Unexplainable
by AmberEyes
Summary: Four years after leaving the team, Remy returns to find out things havechanged in life altering ways...
1. Prologue

                                                Unexplainable 

**Author:** AmberEyes

**E-Mail****:** Ambereyes_lovesthenight@hotmail.com

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of these characters; they belong to Marvel Comics and Stan Lee, much to my disappointment. I'm just using them for my own purposes. 

**Rating**: R rating for sexuality.

**Pairings:** Rogue/Remy LeBeau

         Scott Summers/Jean Grey

**Category:** Romance
    
    **Archive:** www.Fanfiction.net 

**Summary:**  Three years after Remy leaves the X-Men he returns to  Rogue and finds out things have changed drastically in life altering ways.

**Author's Note : **I Love X-men, am wholly obsessed with them, have been since I was a kid but I know nothing about the comics cannons since I  watched the cartoons and later the movie. So.. this story follows no cannons from any of them, I'm making the story lines up as I go along including why Remy left but nothing really important like characters or powers of course, I'm using what little info I know really. Please don't criticize me or burn me for this, I   really wanted to write this fic for along time. Feedback.. feedback..feedback.. don't let fan fiction authors starve and become an endangered species .

_Prologue _

The spring night was warm around Rogue as she sat in the Mansion's garden and breathed in the late night air. _Nights like this reminded me of nights growing up in Mississippi_ she thought as she breathed in the scent of late blooming flowers and fresh cut grass. When things were so still you weren't sure if they were ever going to move again or be stuck, still forever, like a butterfly in a spider's web and stay that way until eternity ended. She always came out here when she needed to think or clear her mind, the garden held a special place for her because it was so peaceful and she rarely ever was. Tonight was no exception, her mind was awhirl and she was frantically trying to sort things into place, so she could make the decisions she needed too. She glanced around and sighed, why the difficult decisions in her life always came along when she was just settling down and getting used to being in her own skin again, she'd never know but they always did. It never failed, as Storm would put it, Karma had it in for her. She chewed on her lower lip and tossed a stone into the pond at her feet, watching the way the water rippled as the stone sunk to the bottom of the pool. 

Suddenly her head jerked up as she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the path to the secluded spot where she was sitting. She left her panic level rise, only one person knew she came there to think, and he was the last person she wanted to confront at the moment. She glanced up at him as he rounded the bend in the path and started towards her, reaching her a scarce moment later. " Remy", she said with a smile with her eyes still on the water.

" Bonjour Cherie", he said settling down beside her and draping an arm across her covered shoulders. Knowing Gambit would probably join her there, Rogue had dressed for safety in a pair of jeans and a cable knit sweater, letting her hair go loose for a change from her head band and circle her face. " Remy thought he'd find you here"

" Why?" She said, wondering if he had talked to Jean before coming to find her.

" Because Remy  knows  there be  a lot on your mind cherie" he said looking at her through black eyes worriedly " And Remy knows you come there ta think 'bout  things"

" Like what", she said playfully, trying to put things out of her mind for a moment.

" Like the promotion Xavier be offering you, da job teaching history here" he said. She felt relief collide through her, she'd almost forgotten about the new job she'd been offered in her haste of getting other news.

" Oh" she said " Of course, Ah'm gonna take it, Ah  ready know that"

" Dat be good cherie", he said toying with a strand of her hair with a gloved hand. She glanced at him, something was wrong she could tell. She and Remy had been together off and on for along time, and had been sleeping together for the past few months ever since they'd been stuck alone together and thought they were going to die on a mission against the Brotherhood of Mutants. She could tell when something was bothering him since she was one of few people he'd talk to if something did bother him.

She leaned against him " Something wrong Sugah? Your awful quiet"

Remy was quiet for a moment then he spoke " Yeah, something be wrong cherie", he said looking down at her. " Dat's what Remy came here to talk to you about"

Rogue sat up  and looked at him" Ah have something Ah want to talk to you about to but it can wait .", she waited a moment then sighed in frustration "So talk Cajun and stop scaring me, why don't you?"

He looked away for a moment then looked at her, tipping her chin up so they were eye to eye with each other " Remy be honest with you cherie." He said sadly " Remy not be happy here , ma past is to much for the others to bare, even Xavier and Remy knows it. It be time for da Cajun to leave" he sat back and waited for her to respond to what he had said. 

" Leave?" Rogue said, not believing what she had just heard or wanting to. " What in the sweet hell are talking about Swamp Rat, your leaving the team, your leaving us?" _Your leaving me,_ she thought her mind whirling.

" I am cherie", he said miserably and she could feel the pain emanating off of him " Don't got no choice, don't think. It be for da best for everybody" He watched as tears built up in Rogue's eyes and without even thinking he took her in his arms.            " Don't cry cherie", he said " It be all right, Remy want you to come with him"

" What?' Rogue said "Ah can't just up and leave Gambit" She gestured to the Mansion " This is ma home, and the team needs me. The School needs me, like you said Ah just got a new job, ah can't just leave them. It wouldn't be right"

" Shh" Remy said " It be all right  Rogue, Remy understands", he smiled at her sadly " Your place be here with da team but Remy's isn't  P'tite "

" Where will you go?" she asked, feeling like her heart was going to break and drop out of her chest. 

" Don't know" he said " But ether way Remy be gone by morn'in" He stood and stuffed his hands in the pocket of his brown duster  " Remy gotta go cherie" he said caressing her cheek one final time.

" Already" Rogue said.

" Yeah" Remy said " Don't got no choice.", he turned to leave then stopped and turned back " Watcha want to talk to Remy bout cherie?' he asked concerned.

She looked at him, growing angry rapidly "What the hell's it matter now Cajun." She shook her head " Just go Remy if your go' in, it ain't important now" 

With that she turned her back on him and stared out at the pond again until she knew he was gone.

She couldn't stand to see him walk away from her.

Rouge didn't know how long she sat there, until the sun was peaking over the horizon in the east, and then she stood and brushed the snow off of her jeans with a gloved hand. " It ain't important to you Cajun", she whispered again to herself looking out over the school grounds. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a grainy ultrasound photo. One Jean had taken the day before after Rogue had come to her complaining of nausea and dizziness.  It was the reason she had wanted to talk to Remy the night before, to tell him about the life they had created. She looked down at the black and white picture, and traced the outline of her son, of_ their_ son with a finger tip and spoke with a shaking voice to the morning air.  

"-Well little one, guess its just gonna be you and me from here on in."  

 With that, she turned and began to walk back to the mansion, reaching it and stepping inside, just as the sun had risen fully in the sky and the day began again. 

To be continued… 


	2. Reunion

                                              Unexplainable 

I

_Three Years later…_

Remy LeBeau was coming home.

As he cruised up the road to Xavier's school on his Harley on a bright August day; Remy could help but wonder what lay ahead of him and what he was getting himself into, he wasn't sure what he was doing really coming back. He   He'd left because he hadn't fit in, his past dogged him every where he went in some way or another and here he was returning. He'd thought it would be best if he'd just up and left before but running away hadn't solved anything, this just proved that.

He spent the time as a thief for hire, moving from Louisiana to Alabama to Mississippi, doing what ever jobs people had offered him to stay ahead until he could put down some roots and get his life in order again. It had been tiring though, not like when he was younger and got a thrill from lifting people's possessions. _Damned sense of morality that came with age was gonna make him old before his time;_ he thought as he turned a bend in the road and the school came into view.

 Remy sighed, as he cruised along and marveled over the fact that after coming so far in his life, he'd come full circle. It had taken him three years of drifting from town to town in Mississippi and Louisiana to discover that home was the mansion and that he belonged to with the team and _her_. It had been like something was missing from his life, something he knew he had to come back to Xavier's to get.

 There wasn't a day that had gone by in three years that he hadn't thought of Rogue in someway or another, whether is was seeing something he knew that she'd have liked if he bought her or seeing something that reminded him of her. The look of pain and betrayal on her face when he'd said he'd been leaving had haunted him no matter where he'd gone or what he'd done.

_Zut!_

He'd been a coward to walk out on the team and his _chere_. 

He knew that now, but it had taken him a long time to realize it and admit it to himself.  He'd been so full of anger at the team because they wouldn't accept him for who he was, it had seemed like such an easy to do, jus cut them out, forget and move on. It had proved to be near impossible for him to do in actuality; they had become such a part of him that leaving had caused a hole that couldn't be filled. He just hoped that it wasn't too late to do something about it, and try to fix things with everybody.

He wasn't surprised to find the school's large metal gates open and waiting for him as he approached the mansion. He cruised inside the garage and stopped the bike, looking around at the cars as he did so. After making sure it was secure, he parked the bike and started for the manor, hoping he wouldn't run into anyone one he knew until he'd had a chance to have a talk with Xavier about re-joining the team. As he approached the house and went inside, he could hear the sound of the children coming from the direction of the football field and decided the kids were out enjoying the August day, in another words, getting into some form of trouble or another. He shook his head, hearing the sounds of a game coming from the basketball court. It seemed like nothing much ever changed at Xavier's, even with the passage of time.

Enter the main building, he turned left, and  headed straight for Xavier's office, figuring that should be his first stop, since it depended on him, whether Remy stayed or not. He had a feeling Xavier knew he was coming anyways, and wouldn't be surprised at all to se him. After all, the man was a psychic.  He pushed down the worry and tried to think positive about the fact that he was back, it meant he'd have a roof over his head at least, for now. He walked up to the solid oak door, dropped his duffle on the floor and knocked, waiting for an answer before going in.

"Come in Remy"

At first Remy wasn't sure he'd heard right but as he went inside, he could see he'd been correct at his first guess. It wasn't Xavier, sitting behind the desk but Dr. Jean Grey. She smiled at him, put the papers down she'd been marking and rose, to greet him warmly. "Hello Remy", she said with a smiled as she came around the desk to acknowledge him "Its good to see you again" She could see the confused look on his face and she laughed "Don't worry, Charles knew you were coming. He had to leave for the peace summate in Kyoto, he's the head of the mutant protection committee and they had some sort of emergency" She smiled again, and motioned for him to have a seat in one of the comfortable sprawling chairs, near the door "So he me asked to greet you instead, I hope that's alright"

"It be fine wit me", he said, grinning at her, as he took her in. "You be prettier, a welcoming committee then Xavier by a mile _chere_" Truth be told, he'd been worried for a moment. It had been over three months since Xavier had, found him in Mississippi, and talked to him about coming back,  to re-join the team. He hadn't been going to, it had seemed like a bad idea at the time but he'd changed his mind at the last moment, and decided to give the team another chance, mostly because it meant coming back the place he'd realized far too late was his home. Four days before he'd packed up his few belongings and hopped on his bike, heading for New York state and Westchester from New Orleans, where he'd been head the Thieves guild's Trainee's. 

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" Jean asked with a laugh and a shake of her head.

"Da Ragen Cajun never does", he said leaning back in his chair and, lacing his hands behind his head casually. "I be one of the constancies of life" he raised an eye brow and smiled seductively at her through his red on black eyes. 

"Well", Jean said, trying not to act flustered by his charm. "Charles told me you're planning to re-join the team on a permanent basis?"

Remy nodded with a sigh, stippling his hands and looking at her over the top of them at her. "Dat was the general idea _chere_, if dat be alright with everybody else" He shook his head "Don't want to make no waves though, if its gonna causes trouble Remy can hit the road fast."

"No", Jean said firmly "If anyone disagree, they'll have Charles to deal with; he wants you back on the team as soon as possible,"

"Still", he said, " Remy hopes it will be alright with everybody."  Unsure, but willing to fly in the face of hardship if it meant he could be with Rogue again. "Alright den, if that'd the way ya'll want it to be, but don't say Remy didn't warn ya"

 "I'll keep that in mind, ", she smiled again, giving him a hug "Welcome back Remy"

"Thank you", he said "Remy appreciates it"

"We've got something we need to go over", Jean said, sorting some papers "Just routine, nothing much. Medical stuff mostly, I hope you don't mind"

"Ask away", he said "Remy don't mind at all"

They spent the next twenty minutes discussing his health over the past three years and where he'd been, who he'd been around, things like that. Before Jean could start to speak to him about training or group activities, though, the door to Xavier's office burst open and Rogue came hurrying in at a fast pace, clearly in a hurry to speak to Jean about something. 

Since the chair he was sitting was opposite to her, Rogue didn't see Remy and he got his first good look at her since he had left her that night at the pond. She was thinner then he remembered, tanned with her red hair tamed under her usual headband. She was dressed in a green off the shoulder t-top and a pair of black jean cutoffs, with a sheer body stocking on underneath, that set his blood on fire. She was barefoot, and carrying a pair of sandals in one of her hand, and he could see that she, clearly, had been outside doing something, probably playing in the basket ball game he'd heard. 

"Jean, Sugah", she said, not seeing Remy sitting behind her, "Ah know we were supposed to go to that meeting today, but its such a nice day out, I was wondering if you could handle the meeting by your self, I really want to spend the day with"-

"Sure", Jean said quickly, trying to indicate to Rogue to look over her shoulder, and failing miserably. "Go right ahead I can handle the meeting with out you" She tried again to get Rogue to look behind her and again she failed with a sigh.

Rogue looked her up and down, wondering if Jean gotten enough sleep the night before... "Sugah, you alright? You're acting very off this morning?"

"I'm fine Rogue" Jean said, catching Remy's eye as he smiled, and raised a finger to his lips, took his playing cards out and began fiddling with them. "It's just… we've got company, that's all" 

Rogue whirled around as Remy politely coughed into his hand to alert her of his presence. Her jaw dropped and she stood silently looking at her ex-lover in disbelief. In his life, Remy would never forget the look of utter shock on Rogue's face at seeing him, sitting there, shuffling his playing cards. She paled to a pasty shade of white and he actually saw her, reach out and grip the desk to steady herself on her feet.  _"Bonjour chere_", he said standing to greet her with a smile. "It's been awhile,_ non_?"

 He watched as she opened her mouth, probably to tell him to go to hell with his luck, but before Rogue could speak or even think about speaking, there was the sound of little feet on wood and the door to the office burst open. A small redheaded boy ran into the room, flying straight into Rogue's legs and attaching himself to her left side. "Momma, momma, we go soon?" he asked, tugging at her shirt impatiently. 

Remy watched in astonishment as Rogue looked down at the small child and tousled his hair, pulling him close to her as she glared at Remy. "Sure Sugah, as soon as Ah'm done talking to Aunt Jean. Gimme a minute okay?"

 Remy tried to alternate looking at the child and listening to her as she turned back to Jean "Like Ah was saying, Ah really want to spend the day with Trey. Ah've been so busy lately, Ah haven't had much free time. Ah don't get to spend enough time with him, it's a beautiful day out, ah thought Ah'd take him to the lake, if that's alright with you.  If ya can handle things on your own"

"Sure", Jean said, smiling at the little boy and handing him a green sucker from a container on the desk "I don't mind at all, go and enjoy yourselves. I can handle things here"

Remy for his part, was still in shock. 

His _belle chere_ had a child? 

It was the absolute last thing in the world he had expected to find upon returning to Xavier's. Rogue had never breathed a word about wanting a family when they'd been together, although she knew Remy would have been happy to oblige her if she wanted a child.  He couldn't believe that the little one he was looking at actually hers. He glanced at the boy wondering how old he was, and then a faint realization began to sink in. He had to be at least three, maybe three and a half. That could only mean…Remy shook the idea out of his head; it couldn't be true, just wishful thinking on his part, ether that or he'd been working in the southern sun too long.

He couldn't see the boy from where he was, so he shifted slightly to get a better look, so his mind could figure things out and put his thought to rest. The little boy peeked out from behind his mother's leg curiously again, and Remy felt all the air out of his chest as he realized he'd been right at his first thought.  He was looking at a miniature replica of himself when he was a young child, he could see it as clear as day .He looked at Rogue in astonishment as he realized without a doubt that he was looking at his son. The guilty look on her face betrayed all her emotions and feelings to him, like it always had and he knew it was the truth. 

He had a son with Rogue. 

That meant she'd been pregnant with he'd left and hadn't said anything.

Questions began to form in his mind, faster then he had ever thought possible, as he stared at the small child beside his mother. He couldn't believe that he and Rogue had a created a child and she'd said nothing, it didn't seem possible but obviously it was, unless he was hallucinating. He had no doubt in the world that the boy was his son, he looked exactly like him.

 Hell, anybody with eyes could see the resemblance, between the two of them.

He had auburn hair, pale skin, and his eyes…

That was when Remy noticed his son's eyes for the first time.

His eyes were black, exactly like Remy's but with bright green irises that stood out from his young face distinctly. 

A family trait apparently.

As soon as he realized he was being stared at, he darted behind his mother; glancing out from time to time to look at the stranger his mother was still staring down. 

Jean cleared her throat, looking between them as she realized what was going on. "Well", she said "I think I'll leave you to alone for awhile, you must have things to talk about", she stared to edge for the door as cold silence took over the room. Hell if she couldn't have reached the door, the nearest window would have done nicely as long as she got out of the room intact.

Remy opened his mouth to say he agreed with her but Rogue cut him off. "Ah got nothing to say to him Jean, my son and I are going to the lake _now_" The emphasis on the words _my _and _son_, told Remy exactly what she thought of him at the moment. Without waiting for Jean to answer her, she picked the little one up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard behind her that it rattled on its hinges. 

Jean winced as she turned back to Remy, who was staring at the door silently in anger "Well", she said "That went better then I thought it would"

Once outside the office, Rogue set Trey down and tired to calm the beating of her heart. The last thing she had ever expected was to see, Remy Lebeau again, it had shocked the hell out of her when she'd seen him standing there. She hadn't been able to move or breath, she'd frozen until Trey had come running into the room. It had taken a moment for it to actually resister that it was him, older, but with the same cocky attitude and snake charmer smile that had caused her to fall for him in the first place. 

She glanced down at her son with a smile, and tried to stay calm even if she thought she was going to scream inside, she didn't want to ruin the day for him, it was the first day she'd had to spend with him in weeks.  "Ya ready to go to the lake?" she asked him with a smile as they walked to the front foyer. 

"Yup", he said taking her hand "Mama, who dat man?"

Rogue closed her eyes for a moment, feeling like she was going to faint, then opened them squatting down so she was eye level with Trey. "He's an old friend of momma's, why do you ask?" she asked brushing his silky auburn hair off of his forehead with a finger.

Trey shrugged, and looked at the ground "He gots eyes like me is all"

"Yeah", Rogue said, wanting to strangle Jean for not giving her a heads up to the fact that he was coming back again." But your are a lot nicer, baby"

"Really?" Trey said brightly with a sunny smile.

"Absolutely", Rogue said, slipping a baseball hat onto his head. "Now let's go, the lake is waiting us" 

With that she and Trey continued through the foyer to the garage where her SUV was parked and waiting for them.

Back in Xavier's office, Remy turned to Jean with a stunned look on his face, and opened his mouth to ask, what the hell was going on. 

"Don't", Jean said with a shake of her head, raising a hand palm up "It's not my place to answer your questions Remy. I'm her friend, and yours, but I'm not going to get involved in this. If you want to know about him, your going to have to ask her your self." 

"Ya be right _chere_", he said turning to follow Rogue.

Jean cursed under her breath, "Remy, wait!" she said, stopping him at the door. "I know you want your questions answered and you have a right to but give her a little time to absorb things before you go after her. It's a hell of a shock to see you again for her, give her an hour to let things sink in, and then go. Go unpack, calm down, and then go. Please"

He nodded with a sigh, biting his lip to refrain that it was a hell of a shock to find out he had a son, he didn't know existed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Alright, ya be right, Remy thinks we all need time to calm down."  He picked up his worn rucksack and tossed it over his shoulder

"Thank you", Jean said opening the door for him. 

Remy nodded silently and headed for the stairs that led to his new assigned rooms, counting the minutes and seconds down in his head until he could go and confront Rogue.

At the lake Rogue was lost in thought, as she sat on a blanket, under a huge willow tree in the shade. She glanced around her; the lake was her favorite place to come because it was so peaceful and quiet. She'd found the place she was she pregnant and looking for a place to call hers, it was half an hour away from the school and perfect for day trips or fishing.  The trees around her were in full bloom, and the grass under her bare feet was green and lush.  Out of the corner of her eye she could the path that lead to the hiking trails and the camp grounds while ahead of her stretched the lake, calm and blue. The sky above was just as blue, without a cloud in sight and she knew it had been a good idea to come there that day. 

"Trey", she called, keeping a close eye on him as he played at the shore. "Don't get to close to the water you hear?"

He nodded and kept going without missing a beat

Rogue closed her eyes, and tried not to give in to the tears that threatened to come. Seeing Remy again had thrown her for a real loop, if there was one thing she'd never counted on it was his coming back to Xavier's. It had taken her a long time to decide to stay at Xavier's, at first she'd thought it was best for her to leave, find a place in the South to go, and raise her son but Jean and the others wouldn't hear anything about it.  The professor had offered to find Remy and get him to come back but she'd refused. He'd convinced her to stay and teach after a long talk with the others, Scott had even been her Lamaze coach when she'd given birth. In the back of her mind she'd always worried about Remy coming back.  It seemed like such a remote possibility, though that she'd never really prepared for it, now he was back and she didn't know what to think. Her mind was awhirl as she watched Trey play by the shore, she just   couldn't fathom why Remy was back after all this time, and she worried what it meant for her and Trey.  

She shook her head and tried to calm herself down, leaning back against the tree trunk for support, letting her arms hug her breast securely. She closed her eyes as memories, that she'd been blocking for three years came rushing back at her like they were now and not just remnants of the past. She didn't want to feel them, didn't want to crave them like she craved air or food, she wanted to stay angry at him for leaving her but it was no use.  

She closed her eyes, immersing herself in the past like a hot bath, as thoughts of her and Remy reemerged, from the corner of her mind where she'd hidden them so long ago. It was like being lost in mist that she never wanted to leave but she had to. She could feel heat coming from his body, and smell the woodsy aftershave he loved to wear, she could feel the strength in his embrace as he held her against him, feel the  intense heat in his gaze as he looked down at her while they made love. She could hear the French endearments he used to whisper to her as they lay tangled together, and remembered what it felt like to have him inside of her as clearly as if they had just been together. 

They'd had to be so careful, relying on silk scarves and body stockings for complete protection from her skin but he'd never breathed a word about it or complained at all, he'd just taken her for who she was and loved her for it. He'd never asked for anything else. Up until the night he'd left she'd had no cause to believe anything was wrong and then he'd walked away and she'd been left floundering and wondering what to do next.

He had spent so many nights holding her tightly, that it had become a habit before ether of them had realized it. She'd grown to love the feel of his arms around her, it made her feel safer then she had ever felt.

For months after he had left, she'd had trouble sleeping alone. She grown so used to spending the nights, locked safely in his arms, feeling the heat of his body and listening to him snore, that the silence in her room had been deafening, like a lonely tomb. It had only gotten worse when she'd started to round out and Trey had started to kick because she's had nobody to share it with, and she's wanted him so badly. Oh, she'd had her friend, the team had been amazingly supportive of her, but it hadn't been the same. 

She jolted herself out of her own thoughts, and watched Trey again as he continued to search for bullfrogs. "Trey I said don't get to close to the water" she called searching for a drink in the bag she'd brought. She glanced around, the lake was silent, it was a weekday so few people were out and around, choosing to come on the weekends and stay. Forcing Remy out of her mind, she wondered if Trey would like to go camping someday, she'd always liked it and she knew the ground there was perfect for an overnight stay.

She watched and sighed so wrapped up in her thoughts, and plans for the rest of the summer she didn't see Remy approaching them until Trey called out. "Mama, look it's your friend again" 

Rogue sat up to see Remy ambling towards them; if she guessed correctly he'd been leaning against a tree watching them for quite some time and was picking the right moment to approach her. She felt panic course through her, not sure how things were going to play out but she forced it down. "Its alright baby" she called "Everything fine, keep on playing."  She turned her back and ignored the angry Cajun stomping towards her until he was standing few feet away then turned and looked at him; taking the opportunity to size him up a she did so

He was, heavier then she'd remembered, more muscular, and his hair was longer then he normally wore it, she noticed. He was dressed in a pair of faded jeans, a white t-shirt, and a pair of well worn black boots, that judging by the scuff marks on them had seen their share of days. She felt her blood heat up against her will, and pushed it down taking a sip of her soda instead, as she tried not to look at him. 

"Ya like what you see _chere_", he said sarcastically, knowing she was looking her fill.

"Not particularly", she said, fiddling with the soda can lid.

"You and Remy need to have a little talk P'tite" he said, "And Remy don't mean about da fine weather we been havin lately"

She ignored him, set her soda aside and looked out at the water, wishing she could run away and not have to face him. "Ah already told you ah don't want to talk to you, ah got nothing to say'

"Well Remy wants to talk to you", he said, he leaned against the tree looking down at her. He looked at Trey playing and then down at her with an angry gaze, then got right to the point "That boy, he be my son _chere_ _non?_"

Rogue didn't even hesitate for an instant. 

"Of course he is, Remy, you think Ah'm the kind of girl that screws around," She winced at her comment and turned to look out at the water again. 

"Girl, you got a lot of questions to answer for." he said, with a shake of his head.  "Starting with why the hell you didn't say anything to Remy when you found out about da baby comin"

Rogue exhaled in anger and rose to face him, poking him in the chest as she did so. "Ah don't have to justify my actions to anyone, especially you Remy LeBeau. Ah did what Ah thought was best for him and my self, and for you for that matter."

" And that was what?" , he said " Not telling me, letting Remy walk away, cause I'm drawing a blank here Rogue" She could see the hurt and betrayal on his face as he tried to comprehend things, and felt pain flash though her.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he cried, moving closer to her and waving a hand angrily. "Why didn't you say ya were in the family way _chere_? Remy would have stayed and supported you and the childinstead of leaving" he said, taking off his sun glasses and tossing them on the blanket, she'd been sitting on. 

Rogue sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"Ah tried to tell you the night you left but I didn't get the chance, remember?" She said, pushing her own sunglasses up on her forehead so she could see him better. "Ah said I had somethin to tell you, but you were already half out the door Sugah.  What exactly was I supposed to say to say, 'Guess what Remy, I'm pregnant, oh and by the way, drop me a line when you settle somewhere nice.' I don't think so,"

"Remy remembers that", he said, cocking his head, his anger dissipating a bit. "Dat be what you were gonna tell me P'tite, dat you were carrying the Gambit's child?" He watched as she nodded silently. "Ya said, it wasn't important _chere,_ Remy call that damed important!"

"Exactly", she said "You'd have stayed when you wanted to leave, and you'd have been miserable, ah'd have been miserable", she sighed "Ah didn't want that for him. You were unhappy here, You were gone in everyway but physical anyways Remy.  Ah needed your heart, _we_ needed your heart and it was already gone, back to Louisiana where you wanted to be. 

"You had my heart then", he said softly. "You still do_ chere_"

Of that she'd never had any real doubt. 

"Ah know", she said sadly, feeling the anger she'd fostered over the past three years fading rapidly and cursing herself for it. "Ah know that now, but ah didn't realize it then." She turned away, willing her voice not to crack "Ah didn't know what to do. Ah didn't know how you'd feel," She turned back to him and moved a step closer. "Especially since Ah wanted to keep the baby from the moment Ah found out. You could have said one harsh word Remy and it would have broken mah heart, ah would have been devastated"

"Ya should have know better", he said "Girl, after everything we've been through together, you should have known Remy better then that, he'd never do anything to hurt you" He reached out and ran a gloved finger down her cheek and she turned away, fighting the urge to throw her arms around him and have a good cry that she'd needed for along time.

"Don't" she said, shaking her head instead and wiping the tears from her cheeks with her hand quickly.

"Don't what", he said, resting a hand on her shoulder, massaging gently, aware Trey was watching them closely from where he was playing. 

"Turn on the magnetism" She said, looking up at him. "That ol' Cajun charm isn't gonna work this time"

"It always worked before_ chere_", he said playfully.

"I know", she said, knowing it was true, there was a bond between them that even Scott and Jean didn't have. She was his best friend and he was hers that was why it had broken her heart when he'd left "But not this time Remy, there's too much at stake here. Ah don't want him getting hurt"

"You don't want him to get hurt or you don't want to get hurt", he said, raising an eye brow.

"Ah don't want you to hurt him", she said stubbornly "Ah can handle it if you leave again but he won't be able to, he wouldn't understand. Ah don't want you to flit in and out of his life Remy; he's just a little boy. Its tough enough to be a kid with powers, he don't need anymore problem then that"

"You think Remy would hurt him", he said offended "I be his papa, _chere,_ ain't no way I'm gonna screw that up"

"Ah don't think you would intentionally "She said, biting her lip "But you could hurt him, more you could ever imagine, _because_ you're his father" She turned to face him "If your going to be around him then your gonna have to stay put Remy, I don't want you going in and out of his life", she waited for him to scoff and tell her nobody tied the Ragen Cajun down.

"Dat was the plan anyway", he said, surprising her like usual "Remy came back to stay P'tite, I ain't leaving again"

"Good", she said, walking up to him so she was standing less then a few inches away. "Because, if on the off chance you hurt him, Magneto will be the last of you problems. Am I making myself clear?"

"Like crystal", he said, knowing she was dead serious. "Dat mean you gonna let me see him?"

"You're his father", she said "Ah'd never stop you from seeing him, Remy. Ah just don't want him hurt is all"

Remy nodded "Fair enough" He looked at Trey again then back to her. "Ya said, he's got powers _chere_, what de be?"

Rogue smiled, and waved at Trey, before turning to Remy "He can talk to animals"

Remy's eyebrows shot straight up, and it took a moment for him to speak. "Ya mean my son be Dr. Dolittle?"

Rogue laughed, she couldn't help it. "Somethin like that. He communicates with them, understands them. Jean said it could be telepathy, and when 's older he might be able to communicate with human, we'll just have to wait and see"

Remy nodded and cleared his throat "Remy have one more question for ya chere, how…" he stopped and tried to think away of away to put it decently. " We was always careful _chere_, Remy don't understand how…"

Rogue shrugged, and shook her head slowly. "I honestly don't know, condoms break and tear, and it not always obvious they have. Remy, we're not the first couple it happened too, and we won't be the last. We, used protection, scarves and body stockings, for my skin, apparently we were just using the _wrong type_ of protection." 

She laughed shakily and rubbed her temples. "God knows how long those condoms sat in your wallet before we used them Sugah"

He grinned wolfishly at her, and raised an eyebrow again. "Da condoms never lasted long with us my _belle chere_, or have ya forgotten"

Rogue blushed knowing he was right. She couldn't count the number of times they'd been in the middle of a hot session, only to discover they were out of condoms. She could remember Gambit, having to run out to the store, clad in nothing but a pair of jeans and his boots, on at least four separate occasions to get more because after Jean's third pregnancy scare Scott refused to give them anymore, stating loss of sanity as a good reason for sending them to get their own. 

In fact one of her favorite memories was of the one and only time she'd gone with Remy on an emergency Trojan run. He'd run inside the store to buy them while she'd waited in the truck. They hadn't even made it home, let alone to his room. Instead he had pulled the truck over on a secluded part of the highway, and they'd proceeded to steam up the windows and use three of the condoms he'd bought in under an hour, then they'd had to go back for more. After that she'd waited for him back at the mansion. 

"Ah haven't forgotten", she said quietly, changing the subject and moving on. "Ah think he was conceived, the night we went out clubbing with Jean and Scott for their anniversary. If Ah remember correctly you spent the entire night plying me with _Southern Comfort_. The last thing ah remember is you pouring me into bed Sugah," she coughed and tried to suppress a smile. "And giving me another _type_ of Southern Comfort,"

"Da best kind da is_ chere_", he said with another grin, that she found both sexy and infuriating.

Rouge, shook her head, wondering where her anger towards him had gone. She'd spent so long being mad at him, only to have it dissolve in one afternoon. She sighed, she could never stay mad at him, she'd never been able to for long. She loved him to much for that. One afternoon didn't fix things though, it was only a tiny step for them and he'd have to realize that or they'd both get burned again  "We'd both had so much to drink that night, Ah doubt ether of us would have thought to use a condom"

Remy nodded, accepting her logic as he did on so many occasions, watching as Trey began to explore the rushes along the shore.

"Momma!!" he called excitedly, waving a hand, finding something new for him.  "Come look!!"

"Ah'm coming", Rogue said, staring towards him and praying it was a snake he was pointing to excitedly. She walked a few feet and realized Remy hadn't moved from his spot by the tree "Ya comin Cajun or not?"

He moved up to stand beside her.  "Ya sure _chere_?"

She laughed, and to his surprise linked an arm through his, pulling him along to where Trey was" Your gonna have to meet him some time or another, it might as well be now" Gradually they made there was over to their son.

"Look", Trey said, pointing and Rogue could see a nest enclosed in the long grass, containing four blue eggs. "What type are they, Mama?"

"Duck eggs, I think", she said "'Betcha their Momma's around here somewhere" She scanned the water, looking but couldn't see anything or any animals.

"Actually", Remy said, speaking to Trey for the first time. "De be loon's eggs, not duck eggs. Duck eggs be brown and those be blue speckled, smaller too" _Trust the __Louisiana__ Cajun to know anything about anything remotely, swamp or animal, related she thought._

"There you go", she said to Trey, taking him by the hand and leading him back up the area where she had been sitting. She caught Remy's eye and for a moment, she felt fear. She began to wonder if Trey was too young, that maybe they should wait until he was older and could understand more. Then decided it was best to get it over with as quick as possible.

"Trey", she said, picking him up and holding him close "Ah want you to meet somebody." She turned and walked over to Remy "This is Remy. Remember Ah said he was a friend of mine." 

Trey nodded, and looked back and forth between his mother and Remy as Rogue continued. "Ah 've known him along time, since before you were born", She kissed the top of his head. "He's your daddy Trey, just like Uncle Scott is Nate and Livvy's daddy"

"You are?" Trey said in wonder.

"I am son", Remy said trying to choke back the intense emotions he felt and failing, if the lump in his throat was any indication.

A shadow crossed his Trey's face. "What haven't I seen you before?" he asked crossly" Where have you been?"

"He had to go away for awhile", Rogue said, praying she wasn't making a mistake by letting this happen "But he's back now"

"Oh" Trey said, accepting this "Are you staying for keeps?"

Remy nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Good" Trey said then to Rogue's surprise and even more to Remy's he reached his arms to out for Remy to take him from Rogue. Remy took him carefully, balancing him on his arm as Trey pulled back to look at him. "You got eyes like me", he said "But different.

"Yeah son", he said as the little boy lay his head down on Gambit's shoulder with a yawn. "I do" It was a poignant moment for him, Rouge knew as she watched, He placed a hand on his sons upper back, and rested his chin lightly against Trey's neck, holding him close. Rouge could see the tears in his eyes and she was sure they matched her own. Standing there she could see the strong resemblance between the two of them, it was clear that they were father and son.

 After a moment Remy set Trey down and he ran off to play again. Rogue watched as Remy, picked up his sun glasses and slipped them on, to cover up the moisture in his eyes. " He don't really understand, he's too young", Remy said, clearing his throat as he went and sat down on the blanket.

"He will", Rogue said, moving to sit a few feet away. "Give it time, Remy" Again she wondered how she could have gone from being angry at him to accepting him seeing their son under a day. She was getting soft in her old age, she thought. 

"He's a good boy', Remy said gruffly "But with a mama like you, Remy wouldn't expect anything else" He glanced sideways at her. " You know Remy don't bite _chere,_ unless specifically requested of course"

With a sighed Rogue moved closer to him, hugging her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, keeping a discrete distance between them. "Tell me more about him", Remy said, settling his hand on top of hers.

"Like what?" she said.

"Anything you think is important enough for Remy to know", he said, intertwining his fingers with hers seductively. "I don't even know his full name _chere_"

 Rapidly, losing her train of thought, Rogue, took a breath, thinking. "Alright" she said ", His full name is Tremont Etienne LeBeau. He's an October baby, Halloween actually, October 31. He was due November 15, but he must have inherited you impatience because he couldn't wait that long.", she glanced at him then went on "Ah was in labor 26 hours before he decided to show up and grace us with his presence. He was a good baby, didn't try much, walked at a year and talked right after that," she smiled, watching as he absorbed what she was telling him. "Ain't much to tell really, he's healthy, never been sick, knock on wood and he's just a happy little boy on general, he keeps me on my toes all the time" She smiled at him " But then I wouldn't expect anything else from the son of the Ragen Cajun"

"What about his eyes?" Gambit said. "Was he born like that?"

Rogue nodded "Yup, right from the start. Ah don't know why his eyes are green tough when your red, Sugah" She raised an eyebrow at him as he kissed the back of her hand. He was still the same old Remy, she thought; he had only one thing on his mind, it was near impossible to believe he'd been angry when he'd showed up earlier.

Remy shrugged, kneading the palm of her hand gently with his gloved fingers.        "Maybe because yours are green P'tite", he said, "Dat deep shade of green dat always drove Remy crazy" he cocked his head "He's got my last name I noticed" He knew she didn't use her last name so he'd figured she'd just made one up for Trey.

"Of course", she said, pulling her hand away before she caved into totally to his advances. "It's his by birthright, Ah wanted him to have it" She turned away for a moment then turned back "There is one more thing Remy". She said quietly.

He could see how serious she was. "What is it _chere_?" He said moving closer, and putting a hand on her back.

"My skin", she said, looking at him thorough tear filled eyed "He's immune"

"What?" He said, not sure had had hear right "You can touch him?"

She nodded "Ever since he was born. Jean and Hank say it's because he's got my DNA, it's like he's inoculated against it"

"Dat be amazing", he said, disbelievingly. 

For a moment, nether of them spoke then Remy said, carefully. "_Chere_, why you no tell Remy you were pregnant when you da the chance dat night?"

"Ah don't know Sugah", she said, turning so he wouldn't see the tears running filling her eyes. "Ah was pregnant, Ah was scared and ah didn't know how you were gonna react when Ah told ya…", she turned back and he was shocked to see she was crying silently, tears sliding down her cheeks. " Ah just was so overwhelmed, ah didn't know what to think or do" 

"Remy would have stayed by you, through the entire thing", he said honestly "Remy may be a thief, but even thieves have honor", he chuckled "Hell, even da worst thieves I know wouldn't turn their back and walk away if dey found out their women was with child" He brushed a tear off of her cheek with his thumb "And Remy's got more honor den they do, most of the time" He sighed " I won't lie to you _chere, _Remy still mad at you for not speaking up"

"And I'm still mad at you for leaving Sugah." she said 

"Well then", he said "Where I come from in da bayou, de call this a stalemate. Remy  think's we're about even Rogue"

She nodded, realizing how right he was. She'd been so angry the past few years trying to place the blame all on Remy, or herself alone, but now she was realizing it had been both of their faults.  She checked her watch and rose, dusting off her hands on the seat of her jeans. "We've got to be back for dinner, Sugah, so we'd better leave now"   He watched as she scanned for Trey, and found him playing by the shore. "Trey", she called "Its time to go."

They watched as the little boy, trudged towards them and even Remy could see he was tired. As soon as he reached them Remy picked him up and settled him against his shoulder, heading for the SUV as fast as he could go. "How'd you get here?" she asked Remy as they walked.

"I hitched a ride with one of da team", he said "Da one dat's sparky all the time"

"Jubilee", Rogue said without missing a beat as they reached her Sportage.  "So you need a ride?"

"Remy be obliged", he said innocently, having bet on the fact that she would give him on.

He watched as she unlocked the back door and then slipped the sleepy little boy into his car seat, letting her buckle him up, before shutting the door quietly. "He gonna be asleep before we get home Rogue", he said, watching as she slipped into the drivers seat then he into the passenger side.

"Definitely", she said starting the car, looking over her shoulder at their son, who was falling asleep as they spoke. "But Ah'm gonna have to wake him for dinner or else he'll be up hungry later though" She started up the road to the highway, that led to the school and the rest of the drive passed in silence. 

Enough had been said that day to last a lifetime, and while much pain and anger still existed, both Remy and Rogue had taken the first steps to moving on past it and both were happier because of it.

Half an hour later, Rogue pulled into the schools garage and shut off the engine, slipping out of the driver's seat, and shutting the door behind her. She turned to grab Trey only to find Remy had already removed him from his car seat, and settled him against his shoulder. 

She sighed, wondering what had happened to the nice peaceful day she'd envisioned.

It had been Cajunized, that's what.  
  


 She should have been mad at him, and yet all she was already used to having him around. As Remy had predicted, Trey had fallen asleep on the way home, so he lay limply on his fathers shoulder, having only opened his eyes sleepily for a moment before sleepily closing them again. 

" Ah 'll let him sleep for an hour and then wake him up for dinner", she said to Remy as she ran ahead to get the door for him. She leaned over the  sleeping child in Remy's arms, kissing his hair, not realizing the close intimate distance she was from Remy's chest. " Poor little thing, he's just about worn clean through" 

" Hmmm", Remy said, more from the fact that he had noticed how close she was and that his body was responding to it more the anything else.

 They went inside and she shut the door quietly as they started for the stairs that lead to Rogue's rooms. Just as they were about to go up, Storm, Scott and Jean came around the corner. Rogue smiled at Jean, who was holding their three month old daughter Olivia or " Livvy" as every one called her.

"Well", Scott said, crossing his arms over his chest and giving Logan a once over from behind his glasses. "Looks who's back."

" Scott," Remy said, shifting Trey on his shoulder. " Ororo, Jean" 

" Nice to see you again Remy", Ororo said, always the gracious Weather Witch, then looked at Trey " looks like someone had a busy day"

Rogue laughed, as Remy watched her. " You have no idea Storm" she said with a shake of her head. " He may sleep a week"

" So your back for permanently' Scott said to Remy, taking the baby from Jean with a quick kiss. 

" Dat be da plan", Remy said.

" Good, we can use you right now" Scott said, with a shake of his head " The I'll see you in the Danger room tomorrow, training starts at nine A.M, sharp, be there, you too Rogue," With that he slipped  his free arm around Jean and they walked off both cooing to the baby.

Ororo smiled again " It good to see you again Remy", she said turning and heading for the gardens, leaving Remy and Rogue on their own. They started up the stairs to where the team's rooms were away from the students. " This way", she said to him as they walked.

" Remy remembers", he said his meaning clear in his voice, mentally thanking Jean as he noticed his room was right across the hall from Rogue's, as she opened the door to her apartment and motioned him inside. She ignored him and went down the hall past her room to where Trey's was, opening the door when she reached it. Remy looked around as he entered his son's room. It was done in shades of green and blue, ranging from light to dark. Stuffed animals, toy cars, and action figures lay littered around while colorful posters lined the walls. The bedspread was green with jungle animals on it, he noticed as Rogue pulled it back as well as the top sheet.

" Just him set down", she said " He can sleep in his cloths for now" Remy set him down gently and watched as Rogue pulled off the boy's shoes and socks, tossing them aside. She brushed his hair off of his forehead, and kissed him, before moving to stand beside Remy. He was leaning against the door frame, his ankles crossed watching her, with his head leaning against the frame and his arms across his chest. For a moment they did nothing, just watched Trey sleep before moving out of the room and partially shutting the door behind them.

They were truly alone for the first time in three years, Rogue realized. Praying to God he wouldn't kiss her, and praying equally as hard that she wouldn't give in and kiss him back. " So", she said when they were in the foyer " Ah'd really like to get in a shower before dinner while I have the chance and Ah'm sure you'd like to unpack and settle in…"

"Already did,", he said stepping up close to her, closer then he had before in along time. " Remy don't got no where to be _chere_" he smiled seductively at her, and she could feel herself falling for him, already. 

" Remy don't", she said softly, looking up at him.

" Don't what _mon amour_", he said, taking her arms up and winding them around his neck tightly, while he settled his hands spanning her waist gently.

" Don't let me fall for you again", she said, resting her head against the solid frame of his chest, as he wound his hands in her hair, and held her tightly. 

He laughed low, and pulled back to look at her. " Chere,  Remy thinks, you and he fell along time ago, and dare ain't no coming back from dat leap" He brushed her hair off of her face " You know ya be the only reason Remy came back", he said     " Remy missed you something fierce" 

" I missed you too", she admitted " But ah can't…" Her voice trailed off, as she looked up at him. " There's so much more to consider now" She glanced over her shoulder back towards Trey's rooms. " Ah just can't…" her voice trailed off as his gaze caressed her. She could feel the spark between them rage up, and take over like it had a mind of its own.

" Can't do what?" he asked, tipping her chin up to face him, so that they were only a few centimeters apart. He reached into the back pocket of her jeans for the piece of silk she always kept there for emergency contact. " Can't do this _chere_" and using the silk as a barrier he kissed her, slipping his gloved hand under her hair and resting it on the back of her neck. She tightened her arms around him, letting her fingers tangle in the hair at the base of his neck, as  she kissed him back hungrily. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and she leaned into him, loving the feel of strength he had, and the warmth that came off her body. They broke apart and kissed again, fueling more heat between them as  he moved one hand up from her wait to cup her breast and massage gently.

Finally, she forced herself to step back, letting the silk fall to the floor. " Remy", she started but he stopped her with a finger to the lips. 

" It be alright_ chere_", he said " Remy understands, it ain't right time for us to make love" He smiled, and turned to leave then stopped leaning in close one last time " Remy can be patient though, some things be well worth the wait."

He turned to leave and the saw something tat caused him to urn back and face her. Something on a slim sliver chain around her neck.

"What", Rouge said self consciously .

He reached out without a word and ran a finger down the base of her neck slowly, pulling the chain out of her shirt to reveal the  silver pendent on it. He lifted it on the palm of his hand, catching her eyes with his and holding them. 

The pendent was of a sitting woman with out stretched wings, holding an orb aloft over her head, to the sky  gracefully. It was the symbol of the Thieves guild, Remy's guild. He'd given it to her four Christmas's before as a symbol of commitment to their relationship because that'd what was done in the Guild. To give somebody your necklace meant you were theirs, that you belonged to them, totally committed. It signified you loved one person, and one person only, that you belonged to somebody and to wear somebody's necklace meant the same. It was the thieves' equivalent to the Claddah ring, Jean wore to signify she was Scott's girl. Wearing the necklace, meant Rogue was his girl.

He stepped back and let the pendent drop back to her shirt. " Dat says a lot _chere_", he said, nodding to it and proceeding out the door " With out Remy even haven to say a word." 

An hour and a half later Remy walked into the dining room for dinner, having had the time to shower and shave before hand for once. He glanced around, finding not much had changed. The students having eaten earlier, it was just the team, and the little one's eating, so the room was fairly quiet. As usual a  buffet table had been set up in the middle of the room with various foods for all different tastes. The smell of the food made his stomach growl, and her realized he felt like he hadn't in a million years. Even though in reality, it had only been that morning when he's stopped to gas the bike at a small diner, just outside of town. He walked over to Scott, who was currently settling Livvy into her highchair, and Nate in his booster chair. 

" Hey", Scott said with a nod, prying the baby's fingers off of his sunglasses.           " Grab a plate, sit anywhere" He cleared his throat as he started to feed the baby her pabulum, and gave a quick nod of his head . " I'll give you a head up though, Rogue and Trey normally sit over there by the windows" 

" Thanks" Remy said, grabbing a plate and heading over to the hot trays. He had filled his plate with food, and was returning to his seat when Trey came running in followed by Rogue.  They had both changed cloths, and since she could smell her shampoo from where he was sitting, Remy guessed she'd gotten the shower she'd wanted before. He watched as Rogue grabbed a couple of plates and filled one for Trey, then one for herself. She brought them over, seating herself by side him, and Trey across from them. " You've been talking to Scott, Sugah", She said mildly as she buttered a piece of bread and passed it to Trey. 

" Maybe _chere_" he said " Or maybe, Remy just knows his girl better then she thinks he does" 

He watched as she poured herself a cup of coffee from a steaming pot on the table, then offered him one. He nodded, and held up his mug as she poured then added cream and sugar to taste.  Remy took a bite of his pasta, and glanced over at Trey, who was attacking his meat and potatoes with the vigor that only a growing boy could, with amusement, his son even like to eat like him. 

Rogue on the other hand he noticed, seemed to have gotten a plate of what he'd call the human equivalent of rabbit food. Her entire plate seemed to be made of salad and nothing else at all.

  Personally, he thought there aught to have be a law banning that much greenage on one person's plate, unless absolute circumstances were needed like torture for evidence but he kept quiet observing to see what things had changed in the manor and which things hadn't.  but he kept quiet. He noticed she was picking at her salad, and not eating it really, just pushing  it around her plate and drinking her coffee. He wondered, as he watched her take a small bite, if his returning had upset her enough to put her off of her food. 

Remy eventually got up to get seconds , along with Scott, Logan and Hank while Rogue stayed seated and  ate what he guessed was about half of what was on her plate. He noticed she had drank about three cups of coffee though, and nothing else really.

Remy had just sat down with his plate when he noticed that Rogue was trying to get Trey to get his peas. This apparently, judging by the look on her face and the look on Trey's was an on going battle that had been on going for quite some time.

" Trey" Rogue said, taking a bite of her salad, and swallowing quickly " Eat your peas please"

" Don't like them", he said stubbornly, pushing his plate away.

" Well if ya don't eat them" Rogue said " Then your not gonna get any dessert. Storm made a pecan pie, I hate for you to have to miss it because you didn't finish your meal"

Remy didn't blame him, personally he'd hated peas his entire life and wouldn't touch them with a ten foot cattle prod on a hot New Orleans's day.  Of course he could exactly say that at the moment. Instead, he took a deep breath and decided he'd have to get his feet wet at this parenting thing sooner or other, so why not jump in feet first and see what happened. He'd have to learn right, eventually?

He finished the mouth full of pasta he  had, and looked at Trey, who was still sitting there stubbornly . "Come on now, son", he said, tapping the edge of his son's plate with his knife and nudging it toward him, somewhat.  "Eat your peas like your  mama told you too"

Tray looked at him a moment, completely stunned that somebody else besides his mother could tell him what to do and get any with it. He shot a look at his mother who just shrugged her shoulders, and took another bite of salad. It was clear Trey hadn't quite gotten the idea of what a father was yet. Then without a word he began to fork down his peas silently, shooting his father dirty looks as he did so.

"Thanks Sugah", Rogue said, taking a bite of potato, and washing it down with another sip of coffee "Ah've been trying to get him to eat those for weeks" 

He grinned at her, aware  that the others were watching them and trying to figure out what the hell had happened that day after Remy had returned, to cause a new family unit to form at the manor  " No problem _chere,_ dat's what Remy's here for _non_?"

The rest of dinner passed uneventfully, for the most part anyways. 

Rogue got up to get the desserts for all of them, and that left Remy alone with his son for the first time. " Did ya get full son?" Remy asked Trey, trying to think of something to say to him. He was still in marvel that he and Rogue had actually created a life.  Hell! he couldn't find his socks in the morning half the time and yet somehow he'd managed to get her pregnant. It made him feel proud in a weird sort of way.  He watched Trey fiddling with his fork and smiled as he got an idea of how to amuse him for a while.

Trey nodded then watched as Remy took his playing cards out of the pocket of his jeans curiously. "What do you do with those?" he asked watching a Remy shuffled the cards, quickly and expertly.

"Watch and see" Remy said, setting the cards aside and taking one from the stack. He smiled at Trey as he held up the card and charged the card until it glowed bright pink then let it go down again to normal. He did this several times to Trey's delight until eventually Beast looked over is disapproval because Remy was little to close to his fur for the liking. 

"Can I do that?" Trey said asked excitedly.

"Papa don't think so son", he said then seeing his son's disappointment "But if you're good for your mama, I'll show you again, I've got some others I can show you too okay?"

The little boy nodded, as Rogue came back with the pie and Remy jumped up to help her. He took the pieces of pie from her and set them on the table.  "Here you go Sugah", she said setting Trey's piece pf pie in front of him. "Did you and your daddy chat while Ah was gone?"

Trey nodded " Daddy showed me a neat trick with cards", he said digging into his pie.

Remy winced, he'd been hoping he wouldn't mention it to Rogue. 

"Oh" Rogue said with a smile, shooting a look at Remy. She leaned close to Remy while Trey was busy eating. " Remy, Sugah?"

" Yes P'tite", he said, taking a sip of coffee, innocently.

" Please tell me, you weren't teaching our toddler card tricks"

" Non", he said with a grin, as he patted her hand. "He's be young for dat yet, chere, gotta wait until he's at least six and can count da numbers"

"Ah'm gonna forget you said that." She said, taking a bite of pie but before she did Remy caught the quick grin on her face and returned it.

After dessert, Trey finished his pie and ran off to play with Nate while Remy fielded questions about his life for the last three years and was introduced to the newest members of the team, Jubilee, Kitty Pride and NightCrawler. All too soon it began to get late and gradually everyone left the table except, Jean, Scott, Remy and Rogue. 

As Jean rose to leave, she noticed Rogue's empty cup and gave her friend a scowl. "Please tell me that wasn't coffee you were drinking at dinner Rogue", she said clearly thinking as the team's doctor and not as a friend.

Remy watched as Rogue looked at the floor guiltily.

"Rogue!" Jean scolded with a shake of her head.

"What?" Remy interjected, looking concerned "What's wrong with that?"

"She's not supposed to have caffeine, that's what" Jean said " Her blood pressure was off the charts at out last appointment"

" Its just stress" Rogue argued.

" Your right", Jean said " It is. Combined with a poor diet and lack of sleep, all things you're supposed to be working on improving." She sighed, and rubbed her temples "You need to start taking care of yourself better, eat regular meals that consists of more then grass products and cut out the damned caffeine, If your pressure is that high at our next appointment I'm putting you on   indefinite medical leave!" Jean turned to Remy " You want to do some good Cajun, now that your back, make sure she takes care of herself for a change, get her  to take some time for herself" With that she turned and followed Scott out of the room in a huff.

Rogue watched as Remy looked at her concerned. "Well", she said "Are you gonna say something Cajun" then went on before she could speak "She doesn't realize I have a toddler on my hands I don't get time to my self"

"Den maybe she's right", Remy said rising to leave, and kissing her on the top of the head "Maybe ya do need somebody to take care of ya for a change girl." 

Later that night Remy lay in bed, clad in nothing but a pair of black silk boxers, and wished he was in Rogue's room across the hall. He sighed knowing it was too soon for that though, and tried to get comfortable on his pillows. He thought about Trey, twenty four hours before he hadn't known him, hadn't knew his son existed and now he couldn't imagine being without him. It amazed him how quickly; he'd fallen in love with the boy, because he was Remy's child and the child of the women he loved more then life itself. He had a son, some one to carry the LeBeau name.  He had heard people say moments changed people's lives but he hadn't believed it until now.

He sent a mental pray to god, he wouldn't screw things up because he really wanted the opportunity  to be a family with them. With that though on his mind, Remy flipped over on is stomach and fell asleep, dreaming of a familiar seductress with dark hair and green eyes…

Across the hall, Rogue lay in bed and looked at the pendent around her neck. She'd never taken it off since he'd given it to her, now matter how angry she'd gotten . God help her, she loved him, that's why she'd been so angry at him since he'd left. Because she's loved him and he'd left her behind. She should have been angry she knew that he though he could just walk back into their lives but she wasn't, in fact she was relieved he was back in a way. It meant she didn't have to be alone anymore.  They had both made mistakes, it was just a matter now of over coming those mistakes and seeing what happened. 

With a yawn Rogue, curled up on her side, and sleep the best she had in months knowing Remy LeBeau was sleeping right across the hall. 

To be continued…


	3. Cajunized

                                                                 II

"Momma, Momma, Momma! Wake up, Waaaake up!"

Rogue woke slowly, vaguely aware that her bed was being shaken by an unseen force, and rolled over  with a groan as the bright morning light hit her eyes mercilessly through her open curtains. With a muttered curse she flipped the pillow over her head and tried in vain to go back to sleep. "Trey, Momma is sleeping, go back to bed okay?"  She said from under her pillow.

"Nope", he said, crawling up onto the bed with her, and trying look under the pillow at her. "Its time to get up, up, up!"

Rogue looked out from the pillow into her son's dark eyes and then looked at the clock, groaning when she saw it only read 6:45 AM. "Sugah it's too early to get up", she said drawing him down beside her, "Lets go back to sleep okay? You can even stay in here if you want to." At that point she'd have done anything so she could get another hours sleep up to and including promising visits from Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.

Trey laughed, "Come on Momma, up!"  He said shaking her bed again and for a moment she wondered where her sweet innocent obedient child had gone, in his place was a little demon in Spider-Man Pajamas. "Papa says you have five minutes to get up or he's coming in after you"

_Bingo!_

She smiled and rolled over on her side, as she woke up fully. "Sugah, daddy isn't here, he's in his room across the hall."

"No he's not." Trey said crossing his arms across his chest and looking so much like his father it was shocking.

Rogue's patience was starting to thin but she just smiled patently and ruffled his hair "Sweetie he doesn't have a key to get in here, I didn't give him one."

Rapidly her grin faded, this was Remy Lebeau, master thief and pickpocket they was talking about after all, the last thing he'd _ever_ need to get into her rooms was a key.

She rolled her eyes up to the ceiling praying for strength and turned back to her son. "Tell him I'll be out a minute."

"Okay," Tray turned and jumped off the bed, running out of the room in his pajamas, in the direction he'd first came from.

With a groan Rogue rolled over and seriously considered going back to sleep but she knew it was too late for that hope. She also knew that Trey spoke the truth, and that if Remy came into get her, it would be far less pleasant then Trey waking her.

Or things would go in another direction completely, equally as bad at the moment, and she'd be up the Ol' Mississippi without a paddle and back with a Cajun in her bed.

Getting up was seeming better and better.

With a sigh, she rolled out of bed and looked for her robe to cover the silk pair of navy pajamas she was wearing, remembering she'd left it in the living room the night before after she'd fallen asleep on the couch after putting Trey to bed.  She cursed her breath and slipping her feet into a pair ballet slippers, turned to leave then remembered to grab a pair of gloves off of the dresser where she kept them because Remy was there.

With a yawn concealed by a gloved hand she left her room, and a moment later emerged into the living room and kitchenette areas that Xavier had had deigned in all the staff rooms for the team members with families. Namely, Rogue, Scott and Jean and their respective children.  He stated that it was in case they wanted privacy; Rogue thought it was because he didn't like to see how messy small children were when they ate. For the most part, Rogue didn't use the kitchen much, preferring that she and Trey eat with the others downstairs, so they could socialize over breakfast with the others. Today however she was greeted with the sight of Trey sitting at the kitchen table, munching on a bowl of cereal and the still shocking sight of Remy LeBeau cooking in her kitchen. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a green shirt, currently with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows and a dish towel thrown over his shoulder, stirring something in her frying pan.

He'd been back a week and she still wasn't used to the fact he was home. She felt sure half of the time, she was going to turn around and find that he was gone again, or worse that her stress addled mind had finally lost it and that he'd never been back at all, that he was just a figment of her imagination. A hallucination of some sort brought on by lack of caffeine and sleep. Trey on the other hand was rapidly adjusting to the fact he now had a father like most of the other kids at the school, Remy had been by at least once a day to see him and he'd even taken to coming up at night to help Rogue put him to bed.

An uneasy truce that bordered on attraction had been called between Remy and Rogue. They'd both agreed to lay old issues aside, start with a clean slate and see how things worked out, mostly for Trey's sake if for nothing else. That was what Rogue kept telling herself to resist Remy's charms, instead of blurting out the three words that she was dying to say: _I need you._

He looked up as she stumbled in and gave her one of his best seductive smiles, the one she was still avoiding at the best of times, and afraid of at the worst of times. "Mornin _chere_" he said cocking his head at her and appraising her for a moment. "Sleep well?"

"Ingmf" She muttered, waving a hand at him absently and pulling her hair off her neck with the other, suddenly aware she was clad in only a thin pair of blue silk pajama pants and a thin silk t-top, with no bra on underneath. 

" Remy's gonna take that as a yes", he said watching as she went over to the couch and grabbed her robe, pulling it on much to his disappointment and belting it tightly around her. "Because his skills in sleeping Rogue language be a little bit rusty"

He gestured to Trey with a spatula, who was happily engrossed in eating a bowl of, what if Rogue guessed correctly, was oatmeal with brown sugar. "Da boy likes the same cereal as me in da morning"

"He'll eat cardboard in the morning as long as you put sugah on it", she said, rubbing her temples and squinting at him through sleepy eyes. "Don't take it as a complement"

He nodded with a laugh and continued to stir what was in the pan. "Remy remember dat, might be interesting to try in da future."

"How'd you get in?" she asked then shook her head and held up a hand to stop him as he opened his mouth to speak. "Don't tell me, it involved a lock pick and using my son as a look out so I didn't wake up, didn't it Cajun?"

He smiled guilty at her. "Just wanted to surprise you _chere._" he said "Hope dat's alright with you."

She eyed the steaming coffee pot from where she was standing at the kitchen doorway. "If that's coffee in that pot then your home free." she said going to the cupboard and pulling a cup from it.

"Decaf", he said watching as she poured herself a mug.

Rogue sighed and winced as she added cream and milk. "You've been talking to Jean again haven't ya Sugah?"

"Yup.", he said, shaking the frying pan a bit then glancing back to her. "She's worried about you Rogue."

"Nothin to be worried about" Rogue said as she took a sip of her coffee and grimaced at the difference in taste, then changing the subject quickly. "Ya know Ah didn't even drink decaf when Ah was pregnant." she said setting her cup aside and leaning against the counter next to him.

_"Non?"_ he asked.

"Nope", she said "No Decaf or herbal teas, Ah figured, he's gonna get addicted to soda by the time he's a teenager anyways, so what it did it matter." she sighed "One little slip on a monitor and now Ah'm riding the train to Decaf-Ville without a return ticket."

Remy grinned and indicated to the pan he was holding. "Go have a seat; Remy'll bring this to ya when it's ready."

"Oh Sugah", she said, guilt washing though her. "Ah normally just grab a piece of fruit for breakfast nowadays."

"Nope", he said "Not today P'tite. Remy made ya a good old southern breakfast, just like home. Grits, eggs and sausages, it be ready in a minute." he gestured to the table "Go have a seat girl, Remy bring it to ya like he said."

Her stomach growled at the thought of having a good breakfast for a change instead of an apple or orange on the go to the Danger Room. She knew how good a cook Remy was, having fallen in love with his grits and sausages, at almost the same time she'd fallen in love with him. "Alright", she said conceding defeat, and heading for her seat. "Thank you."

"Not a problem _chere._" he said approaching the table with two plates, he'd just filled. One he set in front of her and the other he dug into himself. With another sigh of defeat Rogue dug in, enjoying herself more then she'd ever admit, and decided having a Cajun around the house might not be such a bad idea.

"This is good." She said, gesturing to her plate. "Ah've forgotten how good a cook you are Sugah." This was a bald face lie but she wasn't about to tell him that or that she'd missed him or that she wanted him or… Her mind trailed off at all the other options that she could think off.

"Thank ya." he said taking a sip of his own coffee. "Betcha its better then the cooking downstairs"

"Who's cooking today?" she asked. The team took turns cooking for each other one day a week, and some days were noticeably better then others when it came to getting edible meals.

"Jubilee.", he said and watched as Rogue winced over a bit of Grits. "That bad huh?"

"Let's just say it's probably your stomach's sense of natural preservation that gave you the idea to cook breakfast today." She said with a laugh as she took a drink of juice. "Ah mean don't get me wrong, Jubes is a great friend, but sugah, she is one _lousy _cook. Jean I'll be handing out Tums all day from the infirmary."

He laughed, and gestured to her plate.

"Ya want some more." he asked rising.

Rogue looked down at her plate, taken aback to see it was empty, and shook her head. "No thanks Sugah", she said "Ah'm full."

 She rose beside him, noticing Trey was done as well. "Ah can help you with the dishes though."

 Remy shook his head "Nope, Trey and I can do them."

"You can.", she said in disbelief.

"I can.", Trey said visibly dismayed.

"We can", Remy said firmly to Trey "And dat's what we're gonna do while your mama has a shower."  He gestured to her as he carried the last of the dishes away. "Go get a shower _chere_, dat way we can be in da Danger room when the others get dare."

Rogue wasn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth, normally morning were rushed and she didn't get a chance to take a shower until late afternoon. "Ah right", she said watching as Remy picked Trey up on one arm easily and carried him into the kitchenette, setting him on the counter next to the sink when he reached it.  Remy reached around Trey for a moment and turned on the small radio she kept in the kitchen, tuning to some twangy county station before turning the water in the sink on. Marie watched silently for a moment as Remy began to show Trey how he could help with the drying, then with a smile she turned and headed for her bathroom and the shower.

Once inside she turned the water on full blast, and stripping quickly stepped into the spray. She felt her body relax as she began to soap her hair and she let her mind wander to the day ahead, she had training, then she had to start her lesson plans for the up coming year because she only had a month until classes started again, then in the afternoon she had to go into town and do some shopping because both Scott and Kitty's birthdays were in the up coming weeks. 

A crash sounded from the kitchen causing her to jump and drop the shampoo bottle she'd been holding. "What was that?" she called out to them as she retrieved it and began to rinse her hair, hoping it wasn't one of her favorite dishes.

"Nothing.", Both Trey and Remy called back in unison.

With a sigh, she finished washing, and grabbing a towel stepped out of the shower. She rubbed at her hair vigorously then wrapped another towel around her as she headed towards her room to get dressed. Hearing nothing from the living room, she headed to take a quick peek and almost plowed right into Remy as he came out of Trey's room. She yelped, jumping back quickly aware that a good portion of her skin was bare and gripped at her towel.

Remy smiled at her as she blushed, pushing her damp hair over her neck, not noticing she was baring one lovely shoulder for Remy to see. "Nice outfit _chere_." He gestured over his shoulder. "Trey's dressed and ready to go to the daycare when ever you are."

She nodded, turning towards her room.  "Give me ten minutes and I'll be ready too." 

After a thought she stopped, and turned back, knowing he was still watching her. She brushed by him carefully and grabbed something out of the small table she kept in the hall then turned back to him. "Here.", she said tossing her spare keys at him.

He caught them cleanly, twirling them on a finger as he apprised her up and down. "What dis be for_ chere?_"

"So you don't have to pick the lock again to get in again." she said, heading towards her room and not looking back.

Twenty minutes later, not ten, she was ready to go. She hurried out of her room to find Remy seated at the kitchen table with Trey. He was reading the paper while Trey colored in one of his coloring books.  "Ah right", she said as she came into the room, dressed her work out cloths.  "Let's get this show on the road."

She pulled her hair high up on her head in a pony tail, as she spoke, and turned to Trey   '"Did you feed your fish this morning?" She asked him, and Remy wondered if she knew how young she looked. In the one piece black workout suit she was wearing, with her hair piled up on her head, she looked like no more then a teenager even though he knew she was actually twenty-seven.

"Uh huh." Trey said as he tossed his crayons aside and ran over to her while Remy followed.

" Good.", she said, picking up his backpack and handing it to him as the trio headed out the door. She turned and locked it, just as Jubilee  came out of her room down the hall. Rogue was about to call out to her when to her surprise, Logan followed her out, buttoning his shirt as he went and the pair of them walked down the hall together , hand in hand before separating and heading towards the Danger room in different directions. " Well", Rogue said turning to Remy, seeing he was as taken back as she was.  " They seem to be getting along fine."

"I'll say." he said as they progressed down the hall towards the daycare.

Scott and  Jean were the only ones in the Danger Room when Remy and Rogue arrived , sitting on one of the benches, locked in a kiss that was so hot that Rogue was surprised that the smoke detectors didn't go off. They broke apart as the two southerners approached them, and Jean slid off of Scotts lap guilty.  Rogue almost let out a frustrated sigh. Was every adult in the Mansion getting some besides her? She thought, _hell, Jean and Scott have two kids and they were still going at it hot and heavy. _ She caught Jean's eye as she thought this and was rewarded with a half grin and a chuckle from her best friend. Rogue caught Remy glancing between her and Jean and wondered if he had some inking of what she had thought. He raised his eyebrows at her, then picking up her gloved hand ,he kissed it before silently heading to the locker rooms to change into his own training cloths.

Jean and Scott both turned to her at the same time with questioning gazes as they watched him walk off. " Don't", she said raising  hand and giving a shake of her head. " Even ask."

" Didn't say a word.", Jean said with a laugh  as Wolverine and Jubilee came into the room from separate door ways. They were followed closely by , Kitty and Beast. Seeing Remy, NightCrawler and Bobby emerging from the locker room, Scott stood.

"All right", he called to the assembling group, looking up at the glass paned room several feet up where he knew the Professor was watching them, even if they couldn't see him. " Team form up, let's get things underway here."

" Rogue help, Jubilee!", Jean called as she dodged a stimulated  Sentinel and telekinetically   brought it down. Remy immediately threw a charged card at it and it exploded, disappearing from the stimulation. She stood, free for the moment and watched as before Rogue could help, Wolverine had intercepted the solider Jubilee was having trouble with and the two of them brought him down in a shower of multicolored sparks and metal. Rogue, for her part, was helping Scott take down stimulated versions of Sabertooth and Magneto. They were fighting back to back, and as she watched she could see that Rogue was close to taking Sabertooth down while Scott was getting there with Magneto. An hour and a half into their daily training, things were going well for the most part, it seemed.

Seeing Beast was in need of help, Jean turned her attention back to  what was going on around her and what needed to be done.

Rogue took another flying swipe at Sabertooth, watched as he disappeared from the stimulation with satisfaction. She didn't have time to think as another of the Brotherhood swooped in on her, and she took a punch at him. She lost her footing for a moment , missing to her surprise as she stumbled and backed up as he closed in on her. A charged card flew by her, exploding close to the other mutant, and an instant later Remy was there as she righted herself.

"Ya all right _chere._" he said as she steadied herself.

"Just Peachey, Sugah." she said, rising into the air and sending a kick at the stimulated mutent, sending him flying backwards, as one of his friends decided to join in. Soon she and Remy were fighting side by side as she worked with her strength and he with his cards and his Bo' Staff, not realizing how much time had pasted until Rogue heard Scott called out.

_"End stimulation." _

Immediately Rogue and Gambit stopped fighting as Scott called the training program to an end and they began to re-group in the Danger room's center. 

"That was good." Scott said, letting the group catch their breath for a moment as they listened. " Everyone's showing real improvement with the new battle scenarios . Now for the rest of today's session I want to move on to some new hand to hand to hand combat drills, so if everyone could partner up…"

As she left the Danger Room after the day's session was over, Rogue yawned and pushed her hair out of her her eyes. She was hot, tired and all she wanted to do was go back to bed and sleep but she still had work to do, and shopping to get done.  As she hurried she wondered if she had time for another quick shower before she left for the mall, vetoing the idea of working on her lesson plans for yet another day with a resigned sigh.

 After she'd changed from her work out cloths to a black leather skirt and a blue v-neck t-shirt with a full black body stocking underneath, she started up the hall, deciding that a trip to the mall was just what she needed to relax. Since Trey was in the day care for the day she didn't have to worry about a sitter and since for the present moment there were no missions planned, or crisis to deal with, knock on wood, she was on her own.

She stopped and knocked on Ororo's office door, deciding to see if there was anything she could pick up for the school, knowing she was in charge of the necessities the students needed in the school's dorms.  Without waiting for an answer Rogue entered the office, not surprised to see Storm up to her neck in paperwork at her desk. "Hey", she said dropping down across from her friend.

"Hello", Storm said, dropping her pen. "What's up?"

Ororo was currently dealing with the flood of new students for the new school year, and deciding where they should be housed. With more and more mutants having children of their own and wanting their children to have a safe education, free of persecution, the school was expanding every year, and while space was still plentiful, the age gaps in the students sometimes made things difficult if one age group out numbered the rest.

"Ah was just wondering if there was anything Ah could pick up in town for the kids, since Ah'm heading that way." Rogue said, fiddling with a pen from the desk as she spoke. "Ah don't mind at all, it'll give me an excuse to shop longer."

"Actually", Storm said rising and grabbing a piece of paper off of a filing cabinet by the window. "There is some stuff, most for the girls, that I'd really appreciate if you'd pick up. I've been so busy I haven't had the time to go shopping at all." She handed the list to Rogue. "Do you want some students to help you, I'm sure I can round a few up who'd like to go into town."

Rogue shuddered, remembering the last time she'd taken the students shopping and the nightmare that had ensued. "No thanks." She said "Ah'd rather keep my sanity intact." She accepted the gold card Storm offered to pay for the schools purchases and leaned back in her chair, relaxing for a moment.

Storm leaned on the desk, her work forgotten. "So how are things going between you and Remy?"

"Storm!" Rogue said with a laugh.

"What?" the White Witch said innocently. "I'm curious, that's all."

Rogue sighed and shook her head playfully "Fine Ah guess, he made me breakfast this morning."

"Really?" Storm said "I had no idea you two were that close again."

"We're not" Rogue said stoically. "He snuck in and made it to surprise me. Aided and abetted it appears by our three year old."

She sighed, and rubbed her temples with a gloved hand then looked at her friend. "Ah don't know Ororo, Ah keep telling myself Ah won't fall for him again, Ah'll just get hurt , Ah'll stop loving him, but still…" She stopped for a moment then looked up at here friend. "Ah like havin him around, a lot, Ah feel safer with him around and Ah know Ah could get use to him again so easily and lose my heart. Ah hell, Ah don't know anything anymore"

"Well" Storm said with a soft smile. "If you want the opinion of an honest source, it sounds to me like you lost your heart to that leap along time ago, my friend. Now all you have to do is let your body and mind take the final fall, and join it."

"Your right, of course" Rogue said rising and heading for the door. "The question is do I have the strength to open my arms and take that final jump and… will he be there to catch me if I do?" With that she turned and left the room before Storm could give her an answer to her question.

With a groan, thinking of what Storm had said, as she slipped on her sun glasses, Rogue headed for the garage, deciding to take her Caddie for a change, instead of the SUV she normally drove. As she entered the dimly lit garage, to her surprise Remy and Scott were there talking as Scott tried to fix something in his Benz.

"Hey _chere_", Remy called raising an arm in greeting. "Where ya be headed?"

"Town", she called back as she headed towards her car. "Gotta pick some stuff up for the students."

"Need an escort?" he said, straightening up from his position, leaning on the Benz's side.

"Sure" Rogue said, her heart picking up at the thought of spending part of the day with Remy, away from the school and their responsibilities. "If ya'll want to go."

"Of course", He said. "Any thing to spend time with _ma belle cherie_", he turned to Scott; tossing him the rag he'd been holding. "See ya later, at dinner, Cykes"

Cyclops nodded and turned back to the car's carburetor. "Yeah, see ya guys later."

Rogue slid behind the Caddie's driver seat while Remy climbed into the passenger's side. "So we headed to da mall then?" he said watching as she put the car's top down.

"Yup", she said "Ah got some shoppin to do for the students, and then Ah have a few things to pick up for my self."  She pulled out of the garage, reaching over and turning the radio on to a country station as they cruised along.

For the first time Remy noticed Trey wasn't with them, he'd become so used to seeing Trey with Rogue all the time, he'd just expected him to go to town with her. "Where is da little one?' he asked, glancing over his shoulder at the empty back seat.

"Daycare still." she said "Ah don't have to pick him up until five, so Ah've got five hours yet to shop." She smiled at Remy, knowing shopping wasn't  his favorite thing to do. "Think you can handle it?"

Remy smiled, wondering what the hell he was getting himself into, and nodded patiently. " Remy thinks he can."

"Good", she said, cruising around a corner. "Cause if ya can't keep up with me then your on own Swamp Rat."

"Remy can keep up just fine, lil' River Rat", he said smoothly. "If ya remember."

Rogue blushed, she had the feeling shopping was the last he was talking about. She decided to play along for the moment and not clue him in that her blood was currently on fire. "Ah remember Sugah", she said looking at him sideways. "Don't think I could ever forget."

She watched as Remy leaned back in his seat surprised, but a satisfied expression soon spread across his face and she wondered if what she'd said was the right thing for the moment. "Remy's glad it was memorable _chere._"

Great just what she needed.

A Cocky Cajun.

She took another corner fast and watched as Remy reached out and grabbed the dashboard before shooting her a look. "You still drive da same Rogue", he said as the color returned to his face. "Reckless as ever."

"Not normally", she said playfully "Just thought Ah'd give you a thrill."

"_Chere_", he said, dead serious and she had the feeling that they were headed into dangerous waters if they continued this way. "If ya want to give Remy a thrill, he can think of _better_ ways you could do it."

Rogue whimpered softly, praying he didn't here her, and decided to concentrate on the road even though she could feel his dark eyes penetrating her as she did so. This wasn't how she'd planned things to turn out, that was for sure.

She felt a breath of relief as the mall came into view a few moments later, and for once was relived to be a mutants in a crowed of mostly humans. At least while they were in the mall she could concentrate on other things besides the fact that her senses were humming and her body ached in ways it hadn't it years.

"Here we are." she said pulling into the parking lot and trying to find the nearest spot she could. Her car suddenly seemed too cramped and confined for the two of them in her opinion, she wanted out as soon as possible. She pulled into an available spot and stopped the car, parking carefully. "Let's go."

"Whatever you say _P'tite_" He said as they both got out of the car and started for the shopping centre.

When they'd reached it, he opened the door for her and they both stepped inside the crowed building. "Where to first?" he asked as the air conditioning hit them with a welcome blast.

"Ah have to pick up a book I ordered for Kitty's birthday", Rogue said heading in the direction of the bookstore. "And then Ah have to find something for Scott's since their only four days apart."

"Let's add a trip to da hobby shop upstairs to da agenda", he said winding a strong arm around her waist protectively and pulling her close as they walked, amid the other couples out shopping. "Remy needs to get some more playing cards, my last ones went this morning in training"

"Alright", she said as the neared the bookstore. "But don't let me forget to pick up the stuff on my list or else Storm will have my head on plate for others to view."

An hour later, she'd picked up Kitty's book and a CD set for Scott, she knew he'd been looking for and the novelty of shopping for an afternoon was wearing off. Rogue drifted from shop to shop idly, eventually buying a new long leather skirt and a couple of bell sleeved tops, a book set she'd wanted, and a new toy for Trey but her heart wasn't in it. She missed Trey something fierce, even if she was away for only part of an afternoon and he didn't even know she was gone. It always happened that way for her, she could wish for time alone all she wanted but the moment she got it, all she could think of was going home and seeing her little boy.

She sighed as she leafed through a rack of colored velvet scarves, feeling the different textures and weights with a gloved hand. "What's a matter _chere_", Remy said as he watched her. "Something bothering you?"

"Its nothing." she said, adding a red scarf to the others she'd placed in her shopping basket.

Remy studied her for a moment then shook his head as he stepped up beside her, turning her to face him. "Ya be a good mama Rogue, Trey is lucky, but Remy thinks Jean may be right, ya need to take some time for yourself as well."

"How did you"- She asked but he cut her off.

"Remy told you before", he said as he took a step closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He knows his _chere,_ very well."

He leaned over her shoulder and picked up a teal colored velvet scarf from the rack, running it across the base of her neck and shoulder slowly and seductively. Trailing it across the top of her breasts and neck, then up her jaw bone as he felt her body tighten in response. "How's this one feel Rogue?" he asked softly into her ear. "Good _non_?"

"Hmmm", she said, trying to keep her mind in focus and failing. She leaned back against his chest for a moment, inhaling his scent and cursing herself yet again for falling for him when she knew it was the biggest and most dangerous risk she'd ever take. She slipped her fingers in his hair, glad she had her full length gloves on, as he settled the scarf at her neck and kissed her through the material. "Remy", she breathed as she felt her body quicken in response "Behave yourself, Sugah, we're in public"

He grinned at her as he lifted the scarf off her neck and folded it back up to put away. "Remy can't help it _P'tite_, it be his nature to try and seduce beautiful creatures like yourself"

"Ah'll bet", she said but none the less when she left the store ten minutes later, she'd bought five of the velvet scarves, ranging from the teal one to black to a deep purple.

"I don't know bout' you _P'tite_", He said as they walked away purchase in hand from the fashion boutique. "But Remy's getting hungry. You up for something to eat yet?"

"Sure", Rogue said as they reached the escalator. "Ah think I could eat something Sugah."

She let him lead her to a quiet café on the second floor that she knew, he knew she'd always liked. It was dimly lit with cozy booths, and a good strain of rock music was blaring in the back round as the waitress seated them then hurried off to another table. "Ah haven't been here in along time." Rogue said as she perused the menu. "Not since Christmas at least."

"You should shop for yourself more often", he said "Take some time to relax."

She sighed then shook her head. "Ah try, it just ain't easy that's all."

The waitress hurried up to them with a pad in her hand. "Sorry about that." she said "What can I get for you two?"

"Ah'm gonna have the Thai Chicken Salad."  Rogue said handing her the menu across the table. "And an iced coffee please." She caught Remy's look across the table at her. "What?"

"You know what Rogue", he said, casting his eyes down to the menu again.

Rouge made a frustrated noise, and tapped her fingers off of the table. "Better change that to a sparkling cranberry juice Sugah, if that's all right?"

The waitress nodded and changed the order "That's fine. And for you sir?"

Rouge watched as Remy ordered a corn beef sandwich and a coke and waited until the waitress had left to get the drinks before speaking. "Ah don't need you to monitor what I eat or drink Remy LeBeau, Ah'm an adult, not a child" She said peevishly.

He shook his head at her, unfazed at her words. "Then start taking better care of yourself, and Remy won't question what you eat, Jean nether." He raised an eyebrow. "Remy monitors because he cares, _Mon Coeur_. He'd hate to see you get taken off the team because of something you can control easily."

She knew grudgingly, that he was speaking the truth but she still didn't like the fact that he was.  "Ah don't want it ether." she admitted "But it's harder then you think it is to change the way Ah am when it comes to food." 

"All ya have to do is try _chere_", he said, taking her hand and squeezing gently, as their food came. "But don't worry Remy'll take care of you, anyways"

She'd been afraid he was going to say something like that.

Rogue dug into her salad, amazed she could be hungry after the breakfast she'd eaten, and tried not to worry about Trey, or the fact that she was rapidly falling back into love with the mind sitting across from her, even if he'd only been in her life again for a week. She took a sip of her drink as she mused, wishing she could have had the iced coffee she'd wanted but knowing the juice was better for her in the long run. She had the suspicious feeling that she'd drunk her last cup of java for a while if Remy and Jean had anything to say about it.

After she'd eaten Rogue excused herself to go to the washroom, only to return to the table and find Remy grinning smugly as the waitress set a huge piece of something chocolate and gooey at Rogue's place before hurrying off.  "What is this?" She asked as she sat down, eyeing the chocolate dessert warily.

"Chocolate Mud Pie", he said watching she stared the pie down. "Hope ya don't mind, Remy ordered it for ya while you were in the washroom."

"Remy I can't eat all this." she said indicating with her fork. "It's huge."

"Den ya better get started hadn't ya?" he said.

"Your gonna make me fat Cajun." Rogue said as she dug in. " Ya know that."

"Somehow Remy doubt's it." he said "So enjoy!"

After lunch they strolled the mall again and went into the Hobby shop like Remy had wanted to. Rogue watched as he poured over the decks of cards, taking them out of the cardboard packages, flexing them and testing them against his hand as the clerk watched curiously. "What'cha think of these?" He asked, showing her a deck of cards with a green diamond on a black background. "Day is about the best ones here."

"Ah like these better", she said holding up a deck with a black back and a gold Celtic scroll emblazoned on it. "But that's just my taste Sugah."

"Den you got good taste _chere_", he said taking the deck of cards and testing them with a nod as they met his satisfaction. "Remy likes them as well."

Rogue watched as he collected up a dozen packages of the cards and headed for the cash to pay for them then they walked out of the store arm in arm. "She must have thought you were a professional player", Rogue said glancing over her shoulder at the baffled clerk.

"Remy is", he said as he pulled her close and kissing the top of her head. "Just not with cards.

"You're such a flirt Remy LeBeau", She said with a laugh playfully shying away as they reached the center court of the mall, enjoying herself.

"Only with you", he said, pulling her back teasingly and dipping her back over his arm, low to the ground in an old fashioned chivalrous style, until her hair brushed the floor. They stayed that way for a moment, oblivious to the fact people were starting to stare at them as her shopping bags dropped to the ground silently. "Never seriously with anyone else, _Mon P'tite._"

"Remy.", she said warily, looking up at him.

"Shhh", he said softly as he held her tenderly. "Trust me _chere."_

He reached into her bag, pulling out of the velvet scarves she'd bought and using it as a shield between them; kissed her as she wound her arms around his neck automatically.  She leaned into him, pressing her breasts against his chest and kissing him back with as much passion as she had ever felt for him. Her entire body cried out in need as he held her close. They broke apart for an instant then kissed again as the flame between them blaze to life in full ardor. She rested her hand on the back of his neck and while the other stayed on his shoulder, resting warmly.

When they finally broke apart after what seemed like an eternity, and Rogue had taken the scarf off of her face to toss back in the bag, they were met with claps, hoots and whistles from the crowd of people that had gathered around them to witness the pair kiss.

Rogue smiled, feeling the blood rush to her face as she glanced at the people around her, watching them with a mixture of smiles and frowns. Remy kissed her lightly, so quick her body didn't have time to respond and kick her mutation into effect then set her back on her feet with a flourish.

He glanced over at her with a grin leaning in close, and taking her gloved hand in his. "Don't look so embarrassed Rogue, be happy. We gave them some thing to envy for."

Rogue looked at him, and burst out laughing as he did, then they both stepped forward and gave a false show bow for the crowd.

And then with a sigh, as she looked over at Remy, Rogue let the last of her fears go and took the final flight, letting herself fall completely.

Sure for the first time, he was going to be there to catch her.

 When they entered the mansion a few hours later, with their arms loaded with purchases, Rogue and Remy were met by Storm and Jean at the front doors to help them. "How'd it go?" Storm said as she took grocery bags from the pair. "Did you get everything?"

"Mostly", Rouge said as she took more bags from the car, and handed them to Jean. "Ah think we got everything."

"Remy thinks we got everything", Remy said, eyeing all the packages in the caddie's trunk and full backseat. "And then some _chere_."

"Well lets put all this in the kitchen, and I'll go through it and give the students what they need." Storm glanced over at the car, seeing the exhausted look on Remy's face. " Hey, this is nothing." Storm informed him, as they all followed him to the staff kitchen. "You should see the load we get at the beginning of the school year; we have to take some of the students with us to get it all."

"Dat bad huh?" Remy said over his shoulder as they reached it.

"Last year it took three cars to get it all." Rogue said.

"And two days." Storm put in as she began to shelve items.

"And three valium's." Jean said as she began tossing the empty bags under the sink. "Well at least, for everyone else. I was pregnant at the time so I had to go un-medicated."

"You poor thing." Rogue said stoically before starting to laugh.

"Hey, it was traumatizing!" Jean said with a laugh as they returned to the parked Caddie. "I'm surprised Livvy wasn't born with a birthmark of a shopping bag on her head."  She hefted more bags from the car, handing them to Storm." You should know, you were pregnant three years ago when school started, remember?"

Rogue laughed sarcastically as Remy watched. "Like Ah could forget being seven months pregnant and shopping with a group of twenty rowdy teenagers; by the end Ah wanted to go home and sleep until my due date."

"I remember the feeling well." Jean said as they entered the kitchen again. "I wanted to kill Scott by the end of it for assigning me a group of the older boys. I had to put  up with cat calls all day."

"They didn't dare to that to me.", Rogue said "Ah looked like Ah had swallowed a basketball, a couple of times over. Ah was one temperamental mama-to be, didn't take anything off of anybody that day." She turned to Remy. "Ya should have seen it Sugah, Ah've got pictures from around then, Ah'll have to show you."

"Remy think he's glad he missed it, da shopping not da pregnancy." He said as he hefted the bags onto the kitchen counter.

"You'll get your chance." Rogue said as they turned to leave, to get more stuff from the car. "Next year."

"Dat's true." he said as they made their way down the hallway.

As they made their way down the hall, a door opened to their right, from the student kitchen and Trey came bolting out, heading straight for Rogue and Remy. "Momma, papa!" he called as he ran to them with open arms. He was covered head to toe in chocolate and Jubilee was right on his heels as he reached them and Rogue swung him up into her arms.

"Hey Sugah", she said giving him a kiss, then looking him over. "What in the world have you been up too?"

"Sorry", Jubilee said as she hurried up to them. "We were making brownies; I think I let him get little carried away with the batter."

"Ah, its all right." Rogue said "Actually, we should be apologizing since we're an hour late and all. Ah know you probably have things to do besides, run the daycare."

"Nah." Jubilee said "Not really, I don't have any plans right now."

"In dat case." Remy said as he looked at his son. "Could ya watch him for a few more minutes while we finish putting the shopping away?"

"It would help." Rogue said "We wouldn't be more then half an hour, an hour tops, Jubes, please?"

"Sure." Jubilee said as Rogue set Trey back on the ground. She held out a hand to Trey. "Let's go check on the brownie's Squirt."

"Kay." Trey said following her. "And don't call me Squirt, _Sparky_."

Rogue and Remy laughed as they watched him go then hurried to get the last load from the car. "This is all my stuff." Rogue observed as she looked into the backseat. "So it'll have to go upstairs." She eyed the open trunk, sorting through the bags, pulling them out and filling her arms before she let Remy take the rest, and then she started for her rooms.

Once she'd reached her door, she set the packages down and waited for him to catch up with her, leaning against the doors edge as she watched him come down the hall with a smile before opening the door and stepping inside. " Just drop them in here." She called as she tossed her keys on the table, and checked the answering machine for any messages, rubbing her neck to try and ease the tension out of it . She watched as Remy dropped the packages on the kitchen table then looked in her direction as if to question what was bothering her.

 Rogue smiled and moved beside him as she began to sort through the bags, deciding what to do with what.

She glanced over her purchases then back to Gambit. " Ah bought more then Ah thought."

" So?", he said leaning against the table. " What's wrong with treating yourself now and den _chere_?"

" True.", she said, moving closer to him, thinking about the day she had just spent with him and how she'd enjoyed it, making a decision, the groceries and shopping bags long forgotten. She wondered what the hell she was about to do, if it was the right thing, if it was impulsive . It seemed like her judgment had shut down, all her reserves flew out the window, her heart took over and before she knew what she was doing really, she stepped in front of him. Settling his hands at her waist then wrapping her arms around his neck she drew him close, loving the feel of his arms around her.

" What'cha ya doing Rogue?", he asked  seriously as he tightened his hold on her, resting one hand in the small of her back, and massaging gently.

She smiled up at him, reaching behind him to grab a hold of one of the velvet scarves that was lying on the table. " What do you think Remy?" She said, " Ah'm treating myself to something, Ah've been wanting all day."

" Really?", he said " In that case, let Remy oblige you _chere_, in anyway that he can?" He took the scarf from her, draping it loosely between them as he tipped her chin towards him and kissed her. She tightened her arms carefully around his neck, and kissed him back, letting her forehead rest against his as she tried to calm the frantic sensations that were raging through her.

He stroked up  her ribcage with a soft hand, letting his thumb caress under her breast through her shirt then cupped her breast in his palm, savoring the weight and feel of her so close to him. Subtlety he moved so that they had switched positions and she was up against the edge of the table. Coming up for air for an instant, she leaned back, resting one hand on the table, as he tipped her lower and kissed her again.

Rogue put everything she had into kissing him back, amazed how kissing him felt as natural as breathing and just as life sustaining. She felt like she needed him as much as air to breathe, and it was something that both thrilled and scared her to the core. She pressed herself closer, straining to get the most out of his touch as she could, hungry for more, for as much as he could give her. The kiss seemed to last forever, until the room and everything around them was gone and there was only the two of them.

When they finally broke apart, Rogue leaned against him, trying to catch her breath and regain her senses to some degree. He hugged her tightly against him, and she could feel how aroused he was, just like she. She wanted him so badly, she could barley see straight but she knew she had to act carefully or else risk getting hurt again when she knew she wouldn't be able to bare it. Rogue knew if they continued as they were going, they would wind up down the hall, and in her bed and she wasn't sure she was ready for that yet.

For a moment nether of them spoke, and the silence said more then ether of them ever could. Finally Rogue cleared her throat, pulling the scarf away and looking at him, reeling from the intense heat they were producing. " Wow.", she rasped as she leaned her head against his chest for support.

" Couldn't have said it better myself.", he whispered into her hair, his voice as strained as hers. He glanced at the clock, " We got an hour _chere_ until Jubilee brings Trey back…" He let his voice trail off as he picked up the scarf and kissed her again until she was breathless.

" Slow Cajun," she whispered as they broke apart, stroking the hair off of his forehead with a gloved hand " Lets take things slow okay, there's no need to rush is there?"

" Nope.", he said, stroking her covered arms gently, " If ya want to take it slow, Remy won't push."

Without another word, he took her by the hand and began to lead her to the couch in the living room. " Remy what are you doing?", she asked, letting herself be led along.

 He smiled at her, that dangerous smile again, and laughed. " Nothing you won't like.", he said as he sat down and pulled her down with him. Rogue began to suspect that this was going to end up with her parting ways with her cloths in some fashion. " Sit down here."

Rogue could feel her inner restraint weakening as she did as he asked, wondering where exactly he was planning, knowing inwardly it was part of some seduction plan but feeling unwilling to stop it. " What are you planning Remy?"

He raised an eyebrow as he began to settle pillows at one end of her sofa before turning back to her and extending a hand. " Like Remy said before at da mall, trust me Rogue."

She took his offered hand in hers as she edged closer warily and he pressed her gently into the mound of pillows he'd made, adjusting her so she was lying on her stomach with her arms resting under her chin. She looked over her shoulder at him. " What are you pullin Remy?"

" You see soon enough _P'tite._", he said " Ya wearing a stocking under that shirt, _non_?"

" Of course.", she said then her eyes widened at his smile. "Why?"

Without a word he slipped a hand under the back of her shirt, rolling it up until most of her back was bare under her stocking. Suddenly she knew what he was planning, the one thing that she couldn't resist, no matter what, her major weakness when it came down to Remy LeBeau.

He leaned in close to her ear as he stretched out beside her on the wide sofa and began to massage up her back lightly, " Do ya remember how much ya loved my massages _Mon Coeur._"

She groaned into the nearest pillow as he began to massage in earnest . " God, how could Ah ever forget Sugah." She'd dreamed of his massages all the time she was pregnant and long after. It was and always had been the one true way he'd ever been able to get her to relax fully and forget her mutation, something it normally would have been extremely dangerous for her to do. It was a test of strength for him as well, since it meant controlling his powers, so he wouldn't charge her with his touch and hurt her.

Rogue gasped as he began to press into her lower back, kneading seductively with the pads of his thumbs in slow lazy circles and he laughed, bending low to press a kiss where he had just touched. " Feels good, _non_?"

" Ummm.", she made a muffled noise as she gripped one of the pillows, feeling the tension begin to drain out of her body in waves, making her feel drowsy and relaxed. He began to work up her back under her shirt, to her upper back and shoulders, pushing her  shirt aside until finally she arched up for a moment and he helped her take it off, tossing  it in the direction of the large fern in the corner of the living room.

" Remy." She murmured sleepily from her pillow.

" Hmmm?", he said as he kissed her shoulder, and continued massaging her.

" Your killing me, you know that?"

He laughed low as she looked over her shoulder at him with a rueful smile. " Ah meant what Ah said about taking it slow, ya know." She said, not wanting to ruin the mood but knowing she had to make her point.

" _Chere_, this _is _taking it slow." He said " Don't worry 'Bout things so much, just relax." He trailed a finger down her back, making her shiver with pleasure and then kissed down the path he had just made. " We can take thing as slow as ya want them to be, Remy don't mind none."

She nodded, feeling drowsy again, letting her head sink back down onto the mountain of pillows as he watched, amused. " Tired _chere_?"

" Very.", she murmured, as she struggled not to drop off. Remy's massages always put her to sleep, no matter what her mood had been prior to when he started working on her. 

" Good.", he said " Remy knows you have trouble sleeping, maybe dis' ll help a bit."

" It's only seven o'clock." She protested.

" So?" Remy said as he pulled off her shoes, and tossed them beside the couch.

" Ah can't sleep yet, its too early."

" No it isn't.", he said "  'Sides you need it Rogue, we both know it."

" Trey'll be back soon.", she said, trying to stay awake to no avail.

" So?" Remy said again.

" He'll be hungry."

" So Remy'll feed him"

" He's gonna need a bath, Remy"

" Remy knows how to work soap and water _chere_"

Rogue could see she was rapidly losing both the argument with Remy and her battle with sleep, so with a final sigh she gave up. " Remy,", she said as drifted off. " That  thing this morning, you making breakfast, that was just a one time thing right?"

By the time Remy opened his mouth to answer, she was sound asleep. He laughed and stroked the hair off of her forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. " No _chere._", he whispered as he covered her with a blanket, thankful he had sometime before Trey came home so he could move her to he room without any tricky questions . " If Remy has anything to say 'bout it, its gonna be more den once. It's gonna be a whole lot more den dat."

A week or so after that day at the mall, Remy , leaned an arm on he passenger door of Scott's SUV, watching the tree fly by, glad they were almost home. He'd spent the last two day's wanting to get home to Rogue and Trey as fast as possible.

He , Scott, and Kitty had been sent to Boston to uncover information about a potentially dangerous new mutant that Xavier had found through Cerebro . It was vital as Xavier hadn't any clue if they could be used as an ally or if they were a potential enemy.

 It had started out as strictly a recon mission, in which the Professor had proclaimed that Remy's " Unique talents and skills" had been needed to help the mission succeed .

" In other words ya need a good thief to get in and out quick.", Remy had said at the briefing." And Remy be the  best and closest one around."

" Precisely.", Charles had said  without a hint of apology as he filled them in on all of the other details. " With your abilities, Scott's leadership and Kitty's ability to walk through walls, getting the information should be fairly simple."

So the next morning the three of them had set out in Scott's SUV to find out what they could, which had proved to be very little, since by the time they had reached Boston, the Mutant Registry had been torched to the ground by protestors, leaving nothing more then rubble and shattered lives.

With nothing to do after the crowed had been contained, since the building was completely burned out and there was nothing left, they had  spent the day helping victims sort through the rubble for personal items and then turned around and started for home again.

" Well.", Kitty said as the mansion came into view. " That was a bust, who gets to tell the Professor we didn't get anything." Remy watched through the rearview mirror as Kitty rolled her eye skyward immediately. " Never mind, he already knows right?"

Scott laughed as they pulled into the garage. " Chances are he knows, knows who caused it and has already notified the police and anyone else who need to know about it." He stopped the car and t, anxious to get in and see Jean and the kids, knowing Remy was feeling the same way towards Rogue and Trey.

They had entered the mansion, and Kitty immediately peeled off to go and find her boyfriend Bobby and tell him she was back safe and sound. Storm met them at the door and winced when she saw the look on their faces, and the soot on their uniforms.

" Didn't go well huh?" She asked rhetorically. "  We heard about the Registry being torched, just after you left but the Professor waited to see if you could get anything anyways .", She indicated to Xavier's office down the hall."  Jean sent me to tell you, The Professor had to go to Washington right away because The Mutant Safety Commission had been called to meeting because of the fire."

" How long has he been gone?" Scott asked, wondering at the gravity of the situation.

" Two days.", Storm said. " He's returning supposedly, the day after tomorrow if everything goes well." She glanced at the clock. " I have to go, I have a group of girls to take to a yoga lesson in twenty minutes. Jean says to clean up and then come and see her to get filled in on things here" With a hurried " Goodbye" She started for the north end media room, where her group was meeting.

" Well, if dat da case, Remy thinks he'll go find Rogue and see how things are." Remy said, heading for her rooms to see if she was there while Scott hurried towards the office and his wife.

Jean  and Scott were in Xavier's office, half an hour later when the door burst open and Remy came charging in, looking both worried and pissed off to the extreme. " Okay", he said and Scott could see he was worried. " What's going on, Remy can't find Rogue or Trey any where and da cars in the garage. I checked every where, da gardens, the gym, da daycare. Where day be Jean?"

Jean looked at Scott, dreading what she had to tell Remy but knowing she didn't have a choice. She stood, sliding off of Scott's lap and faced the angry Cajun, not knowing exactly how to put what she had to tell him.

Down the hall in the day care, Jubilee was sitting with Livvy, giving her a bottle when all of a sudden Remy's angry voice blared out of the office, causing both her and the baby to jump  and wince at the sound.

-"GONE!!!,"

" What DA HELL do you mean girl, dat they be GONE!!!!"

**To be continued…**


	4. Games

Author's note: First off Hi, how's it going eh?! I know virtually nothing about New Orleans, so I'm sorry in advance if any readers find anything wrong or out of place. I had to do research to find out the things I did put in, so that's why it took me so long to post again . That said, thanks for all the great feedback, and keep reading. I hope you enjoy it.

III

_New Orleans__, __Louisiana__._

_The next day…_

Rogue pulled open the balcony doors and stepped outside onto the terrace, dressed only in her silk robe, as the sun began to rise over the city in a rainbow of bright colors.

New Orleans spread out before her for as far as the eye could see, people already bustling to work or like her, off on vacation to explore the city. She breathed in deep, smelling all the scents she had long ago associated with the south and home. The smell of flowers, Spanish moss, fresh cooked southern food and most of all, the near by Mississippi. No matter how much time she spent in New York state or how long she lived in the Mansion as part of the team, the South was still _home_ and she'd missed it more then she'd ever realized, even if she was from Mississippi and not Louisiana. With everything that had happened lately, it had seemed like the perfect time for a vacation, a trip home to the south, but not exactly home, because she obviously wasn't in Mississippi, since she hadn't taken more then a day off for years, since long before Trey was born and now she felt she'd needed it more then ever.

She breathed in as she looked over the bustling French Quarter where her hotel was located, smelling the scent of freshly made Beignets and bread coming from the bakery down the street, and the smell of strong Cajun coffee coming from the café located almost right under her balcony. A warm breeze brushed by her face, sending her hair flying around her shoulders as she sipped her coffee, and thought about what she and Trey could do in the days ahead. She'd taken ten days off, the longest she'd ever taken off for anything besides emergency medical leave, and maternity leave, for some much needed rest and relaxation, and since New Orleans was famous for being relaxing and fun, she'd decided it was the best place to come, plus it would give her a chance to teach Trey a bit about his Cajun heritage.

Rogue glanced back towards the hotel room, Trey was still sound asleep, probably would be for another two hours yet, so it had seemed like the perfect time to sneak out for a bit of quiet time before what she knew was going to be a hectic day, in more ways she suspected then one if everything went the way she'd planned. She'd have liked to have taken him on vacation during Mardi Gras but it fell during the school year when she was teaching, so now would have to do. She knew he was looking forward to exploring the city, and possibly traveling outside the city to take a tour of the bayou so he could see some of the animals there. She smiled, she'd have to be careful, if they did that or else he'd get himself in trouble, trying to communicate with an alligator or something equally dangerous.

Trey's powers were still growing but he was very adept at being able to tell her exactly what an animal was feeling and why they were feeling it at the moment they were. She'd have to put her foot down when he got older or she suspected that they'd have a menagerie of pets to look after. Right now she'd stopped it at a pet goldfish even though the word ferret had been floating around her apartment for months, she prayed it would go away quietly or else she might have to kill the idea and Logan for putting it in her son's head.

She winced at the brightness of the sun as it rose further and decided it was going to be a hot after all, a good ol' southern scorcher, just like she'd wanted. With a final yawn, she watched a vendor pushing a flower cart up the street and decided it was time to get her day under way. Rogue turned from the balcony and went back inside the hotel room, suddenly glad it was the one she'd chosen after all.

Her room was gorgeous, done in a soft moss green antique style with cherry oak furniture, she'd loved it as soon as she'd seen it . An oak writing desk stood against one wall while the other wall sported a full length mirror and an armoire. The floor was carpet under her bare feet in a rich brown color that matched the wood furniture while on the balcony a wicker set of furniture allowed a private place to eat meals and socialize. The masterpiece of the whole room, though, was the huge four-poster canopied bed done in a soft ivory color, she'd practically sunk into it the night before when she'd seen it. It even had old fashioned bed curtains that allowed total privacy for the sleeper, something she rarely ever got at home.

Through an adjoining door, Trey's room was identical to hers except he didn't have access to the balcony for obvious safety reasons. Off to the left of the connecting door was a living area with a kitchenette, several couches, a TV and a huge bay window that over looked the street. To her right was a huge master bathroom with an old fashioned claw foot tub and a sunk in hot tub that she had yet to use, plus a variety of scented soaps and oils that she was dying to try.

It was in that direction she headed, knowing she had a few hours to relax before she and Trey hit the streets as soon as their tour guide arrived, _if_ he arrived on time like she was expecting him too. She stepped inside the bathroom, pulling the door closed, except for a tiny crack so she could hear if Trey woke and came in, and began to fill the tub, dropping in a generous amount of bath oil as she did so. As the scents of bergamot, rosemary and lemongrass began to fill the room, she dropped her robe and slipped into the water with a contented sigh, setting her coffee on a nearby table. She began to wash slowly, enjoying the soothing scents and warm water immensely as she did, letting her mind drift into a world of fantasy's where everything was easier and simpler then it was in reality.

She began to wonder what the others in the team were doing, sleeping still probably if Scott didn't have them in the training room, or else Jean would be feeding the baby and everyone would still be at breakfast. Rogue missed them already, it was amazing how close you could get to people, she thought, when you spend every day with the, The team really was her family now, as much as Trey was, or even Remy if she'd ever let him get that close again. At the thought of Remy, she tried not to laugh and finally succeeded in pushing all work related thoughts out of her mind and tried to concentrate on washing both her body and her mind free of all stress and baggage.

She hadn't come on vacation to worry, she'd come to unwind and spend time with her son. So far, in a city that promoted time off, she was still feeling as wound up as ever, she prayed that two weeks in New Orleans would do something about that. She really wanted to have a good time, so she didn't know why something felt like it was missing so far. She just hoped that things got better as the vacation went on, so she could enjoy herself for the first time in ages, and she suspected it was going to be a day to remember.

Forty-five minutes later, Rogue slipped from the tub wrapping a towel around her nonchalantly as she went back into her room to get dressed and order breakfast. She phoned an order of Eggs Benedict and bacon into room service for herself then slipped her robe back on to wait for the bellhop to bring her food, leafing through the tour books the hotel had given her. She absently began to make a list on a scrap of paper of places that they would go to have some safe fun.

She was amazed at all the attractions that the city had to offer, she didn't know where to start, let alone what Trey would like to see and not see. She knew some of the city's history, but not a lot of it, so she decided the best thing to do was to take an offered historical carriage tour, of the old parts of the city. Then there was a tour of New Orleans's supposedly most haunted houses, a tour she'd have loved to take but wasn't recommend for small children, so it was out for the moment, even if the hotel had a reliable day care. She didn't like the thought of leaving Trey with strangers, having to explain his eyes, or other personal details that she was afraid they'd ridicule him for.

There was also a riding stable nearby in the old quarter she would have loved to go too, and she knew Trey would as well, so she penned that down on her list as well as several garden tours and a children's museum that offered interactive tours about the native animals and foliage of Louisiana. She sipped at her coffee again and winced as she found it had gone cold, oh well it was forbidden anyways although she saw no reason why she shouldn't treat herself while she was on vacation.

With a sigh she went and dumped it down the sink, wondering if the morning paper was outside her room yet. She rose, checking on Trey as she went to make sure he was still asleep and , slipped on a pair of full length leather gloves and then went to open the door to get her morning paper. She opened the door, bending low to grab the paper and came eye to eye with a pair of well worn black boots that she knew so well as she suppressed a grin and tried to look serious for the moment. She looked up, past a brown trench coat to meet an angry pair of red eyes, glaring down at her, over a pair of Rayband sunglasses.

So her plan had worked after all.

She straightened up , holding the top of her robe closed as she gave Remy a good glance over, feeling relief course through her as she saw he had shown up like she'd though he would. She'd been afraid for a few hours, he wouldn't turn up and then things would have really been screwed up. She'd have had more explaining to do when she got back then she did at the moment. Especially since the Ragen Cajun looked like he was going to explode and rage all over her hotel room.

He was leaning against her doorframe, sunglasses covering his eyes, dressed in a pair of faded black jeans, a white t-shirt and his brown trench coat, legs crossed at the ankles, calmly shuffling a deck of playing card from hand to hand as he gave her the same glance over she was giving him. She felt her heart pick up a pace as they scoped each other out warily, he'd never look better to her then he did at that moment.

He opened his mouth to speak as he stuffed the cards into his coat pocket, and she knew exactly what was going to come out of it. _Girl, you got one hell of an explanation to give to Remy, …again!._ She could almost see the words form before he spoke them. However before he got the chance to speak or even think about speaking, she'd reached out, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and slipping a silk scarf she'd been carrying in her robe pocket _out_ of her pocket, she used it as a barrier to give him the hottest, most earth-shattering, passionate, kiss she had ever given him before.

Remy for his part, was so shocked, he did the only thing he could. He kissed her back, settling his hands at her waist as she wound her arms around his neck, pulling him close as the kiss intensified beyond anything she'd ever thought possible. Only vaguely aware that they were standing in the doorway to her room and any of the other clients in the hotel could have been gawking at them from their doors, but she didn't care as long as the kiss could continue the way it was or _better yet_ the way it was making her feel.

When they finally broke apart, Rogue could see the totally baffled look on Remy's face but she didn't say a word. She just turned, slipping the scarf back into her pocket and retrieved her paper from the floor where it had fallen when she'd grabbed him, and whirling on her heel went back into her room.

Leaving the door open for him to follow her.

He promptly did, still shocked enough to be silent as he tried to figure out what in the name of hell exactly was going on, and which world he'd stumbled into. Especially when he walked in and found Rogue calmly sitting at her kitchenette table, reading the morning Gazette and sipping a glass of juice she'd ordered earlier. With a perplexed look he stumbled to the table and sat down across from her, waiting for her to speak, his intense anger gone, replaced by _utter_ confusion.

It began to dawn on Remy that he might have been set up.

No.

That he had _most definitely_ been set up.

After a moment, Rogue lowered the paper with a smile as she glanced up at Remy innocently. " Good morning."

" Good morn"- he started to say then cut himself off. " Dat's all your gonna say to Remy, good morn'in!"

" What do you want?", she asked, playing along with her plan to the fullest extent. " Good day, how are you feeling?, what's the weather like?"

" How's about an explanation?", he said. " What dat hell are you playing at girl? Remy comes home, find you and da little one gone, without a word, pitches a fit and Red tells me where you'd gone to. So I follow angry as a wounded alligator to find out what da hell your doin"-

-" Its called a vacation.", she said with a nod and a grin.

" Remy got _dat _part." He said dryly before continuing. " Den when Remy shows up here to confront you, you give him what can only be constituted as as…", he shook his head. " Remy don't even know what it was _chere_."

" Its called a kiss.", she said patently. " And it was a damn good one if I do say so myself."

" Dat was no kiss.", he said waving a hand at her. " _Dat_ was a mouth orgasm, and a multiple one at dat, _chere_, dare's a big difference."

" So?" She said calmly.

" So?" he exclaimed, jumping up from the table. " SO!"

He forced himself to sit down and look at her calmly. " Have you completely lost your marbles girl?"

" No." She said calmly, hearing a knock at the door. " That's my breakfast, hold on."

Leaving him, she went and let the bellboy in, accepting the food and giving him a generous tip before she sent him on his way out of the room and carried her plate to the table. She settled down to eat aware that he was watching her, " Do you want some?" She offered him her plate with an blameless gaze.

"No", he said through gritted teeth. "I ate already on da jet."

" Well don't mind me.", she said " Ah haven't eaten since yesterday."

"Do you realize you're completely insane?" he said, raising both eyebrows.

She looked up at him, trying not to laugh and decided she'd bewildered him enough for one day. " Do you realize when your being set up Cajun?"

Remy opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out as he realized he'd been right at his first thought. He had been set up by his _P'tite _and set real good too if he did say so. " What ya mean, set up?" he asked.

"Ah mean set up Sugah." She said with a laugh. " Ah set this up Remy, all of it"

" Why?" He asked, shaking his head as the last of his anger faded to curiosity and annoyance. " Ya got a wish to make my blood pressure as high as yours, cause its reaching its limits. Trust me."

" Because we needed some time together and Ah knew we wouldn't get it at the mansion, a vacation was the perfect time.", she said taking a bite of eggs.

" Why didn't you say something?" He said " Instead of just taking off?"

"Surprise, Sugah." she said.

" If ya wanted to play _' Catch me Cajun'_ you could have said something.", he said as he smiled seductively. " We could have done dat at da manor, in private _chere._"

Marie rolled her eyes. "Ah needed a vacation and Trey's never been on one."

" So you pick here, he said " New Orleans, my hometown. Why?"

" Because nether Trey nor Ah have ever been here." She said as she finished her meal and set her plate aside silently, moving to the bay window to gaze out over the city " And since Ah knew you'd show up, Ah knew Ah'd have a willing tour guide."

" Oh you knew Remy'd show up huh?", he said moving to stand beside her, feeling more relived now although he still more then a little mad. " And just how'd ya know that Rogue."

" Because Ah did.", she said leaning against the window's edge. " You said a few weeks back, you knew your _chere_ very well. Right?"

" Right." He said, as he leaned against the window edge beside her.

"Well Sugah" she said with a soft smile as she laid a hand on his chest. " Now Ah'm telling you, Ah know _my _Cajun, _very, very_ well."

She leaned up with a ready scarf, and tipping his chin towards him kissed him again as she wrapped her arms around him. Without any regrets, his anger long gone as the prospect of spending ten days alone with Rogue and Trey sunk into his head, he kissed her back, winding his fingers in her hair as the kiss deepened.

He had a feeling that, that kiss would be forever burned into his mind as long as he lived, even more then the kiss at the door, because it was so purely _Rogue,_ his Rogue. It was hard outwardly, but soft in every other way, and it was strong, full of fire and intense heat, just like her. It was like steel incased in pure silk, warmth and passion seemed to radiate from it, just like her and he loved it. She tasted like coffee, and smelled like soap and bergamot, and it made him want her even more. He was hard pressed not to take her in his arms and carry her to the huge bed in the center of the room, where he could make love to her until they both couldn't move. " _Chere_,", he whispered in French as they kiss continued unbroken but for an instant for air. "Mon_ belle chere."_

When they finally pulled apart, he smiled down at her. "You really be crazy you know dat. You be the only person in da world who Remy can't stay mad at, no matter what. Remy loves for ya to much for dat."

She smiled back at him, it was the first time he'd said that to her since his return and she was amazed at how much she'd longed to hear it. She stroked his cheek with a gloved hand. "Ah love you too Cajun." she said softly, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off of her chest.

He grinned at her response and a moment later they kissed again, as they looked out the window and watched everyone passing below. "So" Rogue said "Are you willing to be our tour guide for the next ten days?"

He grinned a cocky grin at her as he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and laid his head on her shoulder. "Chere, dis be _my_ town, of course Remy'd love to show you around."

"Good." She said "Because Ah really thinks it would mean a lot to Trey if you did, even more so then you think." She took a breath, inhaling his scent and closed her eyes. "And it would mean a lot to me."

"Den say no more." he said "Remy would love to be your escort, after all da women who sets all this up is, deserves the best guide of all, and _P'tite_, Remy be da best there is."

"At many things." She said with a sage nod.

She leaned her head against his chest as he looked down at her. The sun had risen fully and the city below was bustling as they stood silently and watched for a moment. As if on cue the connecting door between the two rooms opened and Trey practically flew out at them in his pajamas .

" Papa, Papa!", he said making a beeline for Remy and Rogue.

Remy smiled at his son, and caught him easily as he barreled towards him. He scooped him up on his arm and picked him up the little boy laughed. " Hey son, what'cha been doing?"

" Nothing.", Trey said " Mama said were on vacation." He stumbled at bit over the word before getting it out. " Are you on vacation too?"

" Guess so." Remy said as he winked at Rogue and she smiled back .

" With us?" Trey said excitedly.

" Yup." Remy said " According to your Mama, least."

" Good." Trey said as Remy set him down.

"Why don't you go get dressed?" Rogue said as Trey came over to her and gave her a hug. "And then we'll go someplace for you to get breakfast."

"Okay." Trey said then darted off to his room.

"Ah better go with him, make sure he looks alright when he's done." She said pushing off of the window.

"How's about you getting dressed yourself while Remy help's him." he said taking of his trench coat and tossing it over a chair nearby.

"Sounds like a plan Sugah." she said "Ah'll meet ya in Trey's room in about half an hour?"

He nodded and started for the connecting doors between the rooms. "Alright, sounds good to me."

When he was gone, Rogue felt all the air go from her system in a loud whoosh.

She couldn't believe that her plan to get him to follow them had actually gone to plan. He'd showed up, he wasn't pissed at her much, and he was going stay with them. She laughed as she made sure the door between the rooms was closed for privacy, feeling relived because she knew things could have easily gone in the other direction.

She moved back to the bed area, opening her suitcase and began pulling cloths out, looking for what she wanted to wear. After a moment of deciding she dropped her robe, pulling on a sheer body stocking, followed by a pair of black cut off shorts, and then decided to wear her favorite white off the shoulder top.

She cursed as she searched through her suitcase, unable to find the item of clothing she was looking for, even though she was sure she had packed it. She rifled through the cloths, tossing items aside as she went until she finally located the gauzy top. She was so engrossed in her work she didn't even notice Remy come back into the room until he was standing almost right beside her. She turned and yelped, dropping the shirt to the floor, as she found him leaning against the bed post.

Realizing she was virtually naked from the waist up through the transparent stocking, she made a grab for the top on the floor as her face flushed, but he beat her too it. Lifting the silky top off of the floor with the tips of his fingers he handed it to her silently, raising an eyebrow as he did so. As he did she was more aware then ever of how he made her feel as her body reacted to his heated gaze.

"Remy needs to borrow your brush," he said thickly and she knew he was reacting to her as well. "I can't find Trey's"

She pulled on the top quickly, and grabbed Trey's brush from her suitcase. "Its right here got mixed in with my stuff Ah guess." He nodded, taking the brush from her shaking hand as he turned to leave.

As he did a plan of his own began to form in his mind and he suppressed a grin until his back was too her, so she wouldn't see it and suspect anything was running through his head.

So his _Belle Chere_ wanted to play games with him.

Well that was fine with him, after all, two could play at games easily enough and everybody has their game to play. In a place like New Orleans, this was the first thing one learned, and people quickly learned to scope out people's games to their own advantages.

Rogue's game, as he was figuring out, was using the art of surprise to her advantage.

Remy LeBeau's game, as she was about to find out however, was the fine art of seduction.

And at it, he _was_ without a _doubt _a Master.

He grinned again, tapping the brush against his hand with a soft laugh as he went back to his son. So she wanted to play games, did she? Well she was playing with the best and she was about to realize two _really_ could play at games, but now the game was in Remy's court without her even knowing it.

By the end of this vacation, he decided, he was going to seduce his Rogue, and it was going to be the sweetest seduction he'd ever accomplished in his life.

The games were on and his _chere_ was going down but he was going down with her.

And what a hell of a way to go down it was going to be.

Twenty minutes later, Rogue opened the door to find Remy sitting on the floor with Trey as he showed him what appeared to be a card trick, As Rogue came in, he gathered the cards together guiltily and settled them in his jeans pocket, rising to meet her. "Please tell me you're not teaching our three year old son to gamble." she said shaking her head.

"Nope.", he said innocently.

"Papa was teaching me twenty-two.", Trey piped up as he looked from his mother to his father.

"Its twenty-one, son." Remy said absently aware of the glare that Rogue was giving him, as he glanced down at his son with a wince. "And you're not helping Papa, here _at all."_

Rogue looked at Remy and he winced again. "Ah thought we agreed, not until he's older."

"He is older then he was." he said innocently.

"By three weeks!" she said as she settled a hat on Trey and tried to slather sun screen on the squirming child. "Ah don't my son to be a card shark by the time he's nine."

"Why not?" he said taking the bottle from her and holding Trey still so she could apply the sun screen. "Remy was and he turned out fine."

"That's arguable at the best of times." she said sardonically but she was laughing as she said it. "Ah've got to go grab my purse, ah'll be right back." She turned and darted from the room back to her own.

As she did, Remy picked up Trey and set him down so standing on the bed, so he could adjust his hat. "Son you and I need to have a talk." He said lightly.

"'Bout what.", the little boy said seriously.

"About _what_ we tell your mama and _what we don't_ tell your mama." Remy said with a laugh.

Rogue entered the room a few moments later, with her purse and cell phone in tow. "Ah right", she said to Remy and her smiling son. "Let's hit the road and get this show moving."

They all turned and headed for the door, the day stretching ahead of them like a glorious stretch of free time.

As they left the hotel room, with Rogue locking the door securely behind them as they went. "Ah know there are thieves in this town, after all." she said to Remy and they both laughed.

"_Chere_, the thieves Remy knows here, ain't gonna be stopped by a lock on da door." he said as they entered the elevator to go down to the main lobby.

As the elevator doors closed behind them, Trey looked up at his mother with a smiled. "Guess what mama?" he asked.

"What Sugah?" She said ruffling his hair as she slipped a pair of sunglasses from her shoulder bag and settled them on Trey before putting her own sunglasses on.

"Papa says it's alright not to tell you everything, like if he shows me card tricks, because it's for your own good."

"Oh _really!_" she said shooting a dagger look at Remy. "How interesting."

Remy sighed and passed a hand over his face as he turned to his son. "Son," He said after a moment, feeling like he was going to cry as he saw the look on Rogue's face. "Remind me _never_ to take you gambling when you're older."

"Why?' Trey said.

"Cause I get the feeling, you'd cost your papa a lot of money at da card tables."

As they left the hotel a few moments later, Gambit stole a look at Rogue and was relieved when she gave him a half smile. Maybe he wouldn't be spending this vacation on the couch after all. As they left the hotel Rogue turned to Remy for a moment. "Ah forgot to ask, where are you staying sugah? Ah know it's not this hotel, their booked solid for the next week."

He laughed as he wound an arm around her shoulders. "Ya forget, _chere_, like I said, dis is _my _town and I was living here until a few weeks ago. Remy still has his apartment in da Garden District." He raised an eyebrow at her. "If ya had asked me before flyin da coop, we all could have stayed there instead of you and him in a hotel and me half way across da town."

A look crossed his face as they stepped outside, and she cocked her head and looked at him worriedly. "Something wrong Sugah?" She asked as she settled Trey in a stroller she'd just rented.

"Nope.", he said with a reassuring smile that she didn't buy for an instant.

"Remy." She said warily as she looked at him from behind her sunglasses for a moment.

"It's nothing Rogue." he said. "Remy was just thinking 'bout the fact, that dat the Guild head office is here, dat's all."

"And you think there could be trouble if you don't check in?" She said steering Trey down the street to the nearest café.

"No.", he said reassuringly with a shake of his head. "Remy was only here a few weeks ago, but maybe I should make a trip dare alone at some point."

She nodded as they entered outdoor café and the waiter seated them, trying not to feel as apprehensive as she did. "If you think so."

By noon, a few hours later, Rogue had completely fallen in love with New Orleans. After wandering in and out of shops in the business district, and the French Quarter, she was completely charmed with the city's antique look and feel. She'd never been there before and yet she felt completely at home, as if she'd lived there for hundreds of years.

She and Remy wandered in and out of little shops looking at items and trinkets while Trey eventually dozed in his stroller. In one new age shop they just happened to wander into, Rogue found an antique amethyst crystal in the shape of a lightening bolt on a long slim silver chain, that Remy insisted on buying for her despite her protests. "It'll protect you", he said "If Remy's ever not around."

She laughed as they left the shop but inwardly she was thrilled. "A) Ah can protect myself, B) you actually believe in that sort of thing?"

He shook his head as he took the stroller from her and began steering it down the street. "Remy's a Cajun, _chere,_ its part of da blood to believe dat sort of thing." He looked down at Trey, sound sleep in the stroller and then back up to her. "He seems to be havin an enjoyable time."

"Ah figured he'd sleep at some point." she said with a shrug as they entered another store.

After a brief stop for lunch, she let Remy guide them around the city until finally they wound up in Audubon Park. "Mama, it has a zoo!" Trey said excitedly as they walked in.

"Remy knew he'd like this", he whispered to Rogue as they entered the petting zoo and she was touched that he'd thought of it. They wandered over to where Trey was looking at sheep in bewilderment and Rogue realized he'd never seen one before. A moment later she found herself petting the animal like it was some sort of long lost pet as Trey watched in fascination. "It's soft, see?" she said as to him as she fed the animal some food. "Its okay for you to touch him if you want.

Remy watched as Trey shook his head nervously, and walked over squatting down beside Rogue as he petting the sheep while he smiled at Trey. "Come on." he said "Its all right."

Trey reached out and touched the animal with a laugh. "He feels funny." Trey said and Remy watched as the little boy looked perplexed for a moment. For the first time Remy remembered his son's powers and what he could do. "What's he thinkin?" he whispered to Trey, so just he and Rogue could hear.

"He doesn't like it here." Trey whispered back as they moved on. "Its too small for him."

A few moments later Rogue was laughing as she watched Trey chase after a flock of ducks curiously. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Remy for his part was waging his personal war with an unlikely adversary and he was losing badly.

"_Chere_.", he called to her as she tried not to laugh at the sight that met her eyes. A monkey had come out down from one of the trees, and had settled on Remy's shoulder while a trainer watched from near by. Remy was trying to get rid of it as fast as possible but it didn't want to go and it wasn't making qualms about screeching in Remy's ear and letting him know it. "_Ca c'est assez_, little help would be nice." She watched as the monkey made a grab for Remy's sunglasses and he tried to stop it in vain. He grabbed the glasses settling them back on his head as he tried to shoo the monkey away to no avail. It sat stubbornly on his shoulder and tried to wrap its little arms around Remy's head as he struggled to get away.

"Need some help?" she said as she fought her away to him, through a crowd of children.

He gave her a look over her sunglasses and she couldn't help but laugh as she watched him. "Get dis rat off Remy's head _chere,_ before it becomes gumbo." A trainer hurried over and pried the animal away as Remy shook his head lightly from side to side.

With a sigh, Rogue walked up to him and reaching up, she brushed the hair off of his face and back into place with a sigh. "Don't be such a baby." she chided him "It's just a monkey." He opened his mouth to speak but before he could she had wound her arm through his and pulled him close, leading him away. He smiled, surprised and pleased at her sudden show of public affection and wound arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her hair, as they walked over to where Trey was waiting for them.

Before Rogue knew it, the day was fading, night was falling and she and Remy were heading back to the hotel after a fantastic dinner at an out of the way diner. "So" He said as he wheeled a sleeping Trey into the hotel's lobby. "Do you like what you see of _Belle __Orleans__'s_ so far?" He said to her as they returned the stroller to the front desk.

"Ah like it," she said as she picked up Trey and settled him against her shoulder as he murmured in his sleep. " Ah could easily stay here, feels like home already." This answer clearly pleased him and she slowly began to realize how important it was to him, that she liked his home town and everything in it.

They reached the hotel room in no time and she let Remy open the door while she waited with Trey . " He's exhausted.", she said as she moved to carry him to his room. " But Ah know he had a great day." She looked around the room, noticing housekeeping had been in while she was gone, and nodded to a bottle of wine that was chilling on a table near by, wondering where it had come from until she saw the look on Remy's face.

With a sigh she gave up and decided to just enjoy herself for once. " Why don't I put him to bed while you pour us each a glass of that." She said nodding to it and prayed that the situation wouldn't get to far out of hand. He nodded and she turned and went into Trey's room, quickly settling him in his pajamas and slipping him under the covers. He didn't move or wake up for even a moment and she knew he needed all the sleep he could get if they were going to be out early the next day. She gave him kiss on the forehead and slipped out of the room, leaving a nightlight on and closing the door behind her.

" He's out for the night," She said as she accepted a glass of white wine from Remy and curled up on the couch beside him as he turned the stereo on to some light jazz music. She smiled and kicked off her shoes, curling her feet under her as she settled in. " Thank you," she said " For the zoo today, Ah know he really loved it."

He smiled and sipped at his drink, glad he had had the presence of mind to pre-order it before they'd left that morning. " Wasn't nothin _chere_, just tryin to be a good papa, dat's all."

" You are, he's a lucky little boy", she said setting her drink on the coffee table and curling up close to him, laying her head on his chest as he slipped an arm around her covered shoulders.

For a moment silence reigned but Rogue didn't mind, she'd never felt so content and safe in her life as she did in those few minutes. She closed her eyes and listened to his heart beating steadily while he stroked her covered arm easily. She loved him more she'd ever realized and it was at that moment that she realized it would be an easy step for her to ask him to stay the night. She shivered inwardly at the delicious thought of spending the night making love with him and tried to will her blood to calm.

A thought began to dawn on her, and her eyes flew open as it struck her, they were rapidly evolving into a couple. In their own way, in their own time, like usual for them, they were becoming what they had once been and Rogue couldn't have been happier. Six months before she would have denied harshly that she had any feeling left for him, and if someone had told her that they'd get a second chance to make things right, she'd have scoffed. Now, she was willing to admit she loved him, hell she'd even told him so, and the thought of being part of a couple( Something she'd never thought she'd be again) made her happier then she'd been in a long time and she knew he felt the same. She opened her eyes, aware of the fact he was watching her with a smile.

" What'cha thinkin 'bout _chere_?", he asked.

" The fact that Ah love you, totally and completely.", she said setting her glass aside as she looked up at him.

He looker at her seriously and took her chin in his hand . " Ah love you too Rogue,", he said looking down at her. " With all my heart." He grabbed a scarf off of the coffee table and kissed her through it as she held onto him for dear life, feeling her heart slip away. Knowing it would land squarely in his hands and it would be safe from harm.

When they broke apart, she curled up against his chest again as he buried his face in her hair, both feeling affected as intense emotion collided through them in waves. After a moment she spoke in a soft shaky voice, that she almost couldn't believe was hers " Remy when did this happen to us again?",

" What _P'tite_?" he asked .

" _Us_.", she said as she laid a hand on his chest." When did it happen again, and why Ah didn't notice when everyone else seemed to?"

He laughed and stoked her hair. " Da key word dare is again, _chere_. Remy doesn't think it had ever stopped to begin with, even when we were apart."

" Really?" she said.

He nodded and kissed her temple through the scarf. " Da reason ya never noticed girl, is because it was always dare, it always has been, it was just broken dat's all. We just needed to fix it, for both of us to feel things again like we're supposed too.", He turned serious for a moment as he looked down at her. " You and I, Rouge, we got something special between us, something _strong_. Stronger den Remy'd ever seen between two people, even Cykes and Jean don't got it like we do, _chere._ We fight, and we cuss, and we hurt, but in da end, we come out stronger den before. Its da damnedest thing Remy's seen but it's _always_ been there _chere_, it's never left, just we did."

" So we're just getting back to where we're supposed to be.", she surmised, feeling like he was right about everything.

" Exactly," He said. " We just took the long road around, dat's all."

She looked up at him, and without a word leaned up and kissed him again, settling her hand at the base of his neck as he leaned in closer. When they finally pulled away, they were breathless. She brushed her lips lightly against his through the scarf, once, twice as she leaned back against the sofa. " What the hell are we doing?" she asked raggedly as she strained against him.

"Remy ain't got a clue _chere._" he said, as he eased her down onto the sofa and, bracing himself on his arms looked down at her. " But it feels, damn good to figure out, _Non_?"

" True.", she said as they kissed again. " Very true Cajun."

As they kissed he began to massage up her ribcage until he reached her breasts, pausing a moment before beginning to stroke her through the thin fabric of her t-shirt. She let out delighted sigh and he felt her body tighten under him, her nipple hardening at his touch. He played with her mercilessly until she was moaning against his lips and panting for breath, then sure she was wearing a body stocking, he slipped a hand under her shirt, feeling the heat reading from her body and began to stroke her swollen flesh again. She placed a hand over his and guided him, feeling her body begin to rise to its peak.

When they finally broke apart, she leaned against him for support she tried to catch her breath . Her sense kicked in and she almost began to cry in frustration. " Remy.", she said, " We can't do this here."

She thought for a moment he was going t cry in frustration as well. " Why not _chere_?"

" Because these rooms aren't sound proof, and Trey is right through that door. He'll hear everything." She said as she sat up and pulled her shirt back into place. " It would be different if we were home, the rooms are sound proof but here, its too risky."

He nodded and ran a hand through his hair, knowing she was right. She smiled at him. " Don't be too disappointed Cajun." She said " Because once we do get home…", she let her voice trail off as she watched the look on his face.

" Your gonna be da death of me, ya know dat girl.", he said with a grin as he settled down on the couch and pulled her down with him. " But it's a death, Remy'd gonna enjoy 'til the last minute.", he wrapped his arms around her as they lay there, legs tangled like the old days.

She grinned as he turned on the TV to an oldies station, that she knew they both liked and _Bewitched_ blared across the screen. He pulled a blanket over them and they settled in for the night, both happy and content to just be with each other then anything else.

Before Rouge knew it, or quite believed it, they had been in New Orleans a week and she begun to think she had found a second home.

As she finished her lunch, she smiled as she thought of what was planned. Remy had rented a car and was taking them on an authentic Bayou tour, run through a nature guide an hour outside of the city. Trey had been so excited about going he had barley slept the night before, and to be honest Rogue was excited herself about seeing some of the natural sites.

She smiled again as she thought of Remy, he'd been the perfect guide to the city and there hadn't been a day that they hadn't done something fun. Whether it was a trip to the Aquarium of the Americas, riding at a local stable or shopping in the city's business core, it had been the best time she'd had in forever. Just the day before they had gone to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve and had spent the entire day there until dark.

The hotel staff was so used to seeing him with her and Trey, that she knew they thought they were a married couple, and they didn't question Remy's coming or goings. She could handle that to a degree, it didn't really matter to ether her or Remy. Although the first time the front desk clerk had called her " Mrs. LeBeau", she'd nearly had a massive coronary and died on the spot, she'd been so surprised.

Rogue hadn't felted stressed in days and she'd been sleeping much better, possibly because of the stubborn Cajun who had taken to sleeping on her sofa, although she'd offered to share the bed on neutral terms until they got home. It might have also had something to with the fact, that, said Cajun, had phoned room service and told them not send any coffee up to her rooms again, even if she asked or begged for it.

She sighed as they eyed the cup of Jasmine tea on the kitchen table and winced, wondering what it would take to get room service to sneak her up a cup of coffee then decided it wasn't worth the risk. She looked around the room, Trey was coloring while they waited for Remy to get back. He had said he had to go out for a bit and take care of some errands in the morning before they left in the early afternoon, and had gone out at the crack of dawn. Rogue had figured it was guild business and hadn't asked anything else because she really didn't want to know .

She hadn't more then thought of him then Remy came in through the door, still talking on his cell . He quickly cut the conversation off and slid the phone back into his pocket as he kissed the top of Trey's head and smiled at her. " Sorry it took me awhile, are we all ready to go?"

" Sure.", she said as she gave Trey his hat to put on and they headed out the door. " Did you get everything done, you wanted too?"

"Sure did.", he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. " Now let's go have some fun."

An hour, and one long, hot car ride later, Rogue found herself standing with three other couples, waiting to board a small river boat that would guide them safely around the bayou for the afternoon. The guide was a man, who made her glad she had Remy with her, because she could barely understand what he was saying, his Cajun accent was so thick.

As the boat began to move, she looked around and was amazed that what was actually a swamp could be so beautiful. The water was calm and still, with the occasional willow tree hanging low over the water with their sweeping branches, moving in the wind. A mist swirled around them, and gave the land an eerie calm, like something out of Marion Zimmer Bradley novel, she thought as the guide began to talk about the region and the plant and animal life. They glided by trees, covered with hanging Spanish moss and Rogue felt her breath catch in her chest. " It really is beautiful here in its own way.', she said to Remy as she leaned against him.

" Told ya _chere,_", he said, whispering low in her ear " Nothin like da bayou, not at all."

" Look," Rogue said to Trey as she pointed out a white tailed deer on the bank near by. " Isn't she pretty?"

Trey nodded, fascinated as they watched a brown heron, take off from the water and swoop low over the boat before heading back the way they had come. A moment later Rogue watched as a pair of otters, slid off the bank and into the water.

The tour went on, and they watched gators, glide through the swamp watching them back warily with an intense gaze that Rogue found creepy. She shivered and turned her attention to a grey fox that was burying something on the shore line, dinner for another day and tried to pry her mind off of anything but enjoying herself. They cruised under the Spanish moss again, listening to the call of a mockingbird, and then a moment later a pair of loons calling across the water to each other.

She let Remy point things out to Trey as they cruised along and tried to ignore the water snake that bobbed by the boat as it tried to catch a small fish of some sort.

Before she knew it the boat was cruising back into the dock and they were getting off and thanking their guide, or at least Remy was thanking him in rapid fire French, and paying him extra for giving them such an enjoyable tour.

" So?", she said to Trey as they pulled up to the hotel, " Did you like it?"

Trey nodded and smiled. " Yes.", he turned to Remy. " The man there talked like you, only worse Papa.", he observed as they started inside. Rogue bit back a laugh, seeing Remy didn't quite know how to take that one.

As they entered the hotel, Remy turned to Rogue with a grin. " Gotta surprise for you _chere_", he said as they settled in the elevator. " I made us plans to go out tonight, just the two of us."

" What?", she said, raising an eyebrow as they entered the hallway where her room was. " Remy, I mean it's a nice gesture how are we going to pull this one off?, we don't have a babysitter and the daycare's closed."

He grinned even wider as he unlocked the hotel door with her spare key. " It's okay, Rogue.", he said as he clocked his head at her. " Remy thought of dat."

'"So?", she said.

" So?", he said, opening the door wider and watching as her jaw dropped to the floor. " Remy flew in a Jubilee, custom order from New York State."

" Hi", Jubilee said from where she was lounging on the couch reading a book. "How's your vacation going?"

" Good.", Rogue said, in shock as her gaze darted from Jubilee to Remy.

" Jubilee's gonna watch Trey for the night." Remy told her. " So you and I can go out on da town." He glanced at the clock above the fireplace. " You should go change, if we're gonna make it to dinner. Places fill up fast on a Friday night in this town, so Remy made reservation for an hour and half from now."

He grabbed a tote, off of the floor, something she hadn't even noticed he'd brought in earlier. " If ya wanna shower and change in da bathroom, Remy'll go shower and change in da boy's room."

Rogue was still in shock as she watched him go, everything was happening in a blur. She turned to Jubilee with a shake of her head as Trey hugged her waist with a grin. " Ah had no idea he had this planned, did you?"

Jubilee shrugged. " He called last night, and asked if I wanted to baby sit for the night, I said sure, no problem and then I realized he meant _here,_ instead of when you got back. He had Storm fly me in on the jet, I got here just after you left this afternoon _chica_, the hotel staff knew I was coming so the let me in. That's all I know, honest"

" Ah don't know whether to kiss him or kill him", Rogue said as she picked out what she was going to wear for the evening and started for the bathroom to get ready. " Or both."

Jubilee laughed as she tousled Trey's hair. " Hey if it was me, I'd be thrilled that a guy would go that far out of his way to do something romantic."

" That's true" Rogue said as she shut the bathroom door and began to strip off her shorts and t-shirt, " Very true."

She _was _touched that Remy had done this for them, she thought as she stepped under the shower's hot spray and began to lather her hair. It would be a good way to end their vacation, since they were supposed to be leaving the next evening. A thrill shot through her at the thought of spending the evening with Remy alone, she wondered what he had planned for them .

When she emerged from the bathroom a little while later she was dressed in a black lace dress she had bought the day before. It had a sheer body shell that came down to her knees and then that was covered with black lace. The bell sleeves were mid arm and she'd even bought a pair of lace gloves to go with them. She slipped a black body stocking on under that, wound a black velvet scarf around her throat and would her hair up on her head, letting a few stray curls wind down around her face as she slipped her feet into a pair of black heels that added an inch or so to her height.

She watched the shocked but pleased look on Remy's face as she grabbed her purse from the coffee table. He was dressed in a blue dress shirt and a pair of black dress pants with a blue sports jacket draped over his arm. " Are you ready to go?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him the turned to Jubilee. " Ah don't know how late we're gonna be Sugah, sorry."

" Don't worry about it." Jubilee said as she grinned down at Trey. " We can find something to do I'm sure. Have a great time, enjoy yourself."

" We will." Remy said as they turned to leave.

" Be good for Jubilee." Rouge as she gave Trey a kiss and a hug. " Don't give her any trouble or we'll hear about it."

" I won't.", Trey said with a yawn.

Rouge mouthed the word _" Bedtime.",_ to Jubilee who nodded softly and then she and Remy went out the door closing it softly behind them.

Remy eyed her as they started up the hall, hand in hand. " You look beautiful _chere_." He said as he appraised her.

" You clean up pretty good yourself .", she said as they got on the elevator and it started down. " Really good in fact."

As they left the elevator and started across the lobby, she wound her arm around his and lean her head against his shoulder as the front desk clerk smiled at them and wised them a good evening. When they got outside Rogue was stunned to find a black limo waiting for them and she turned to Remy in surprise, who just smiled and moved to open the door for her. She slid in and he followed, pulling the door shut behind them before giving the driver instruction in French to where they were going.

" So,", she said leaning back against her seat with an amused glance. " Are you going to tell me where we're going Sugah?"

" _Non_", he said " Ya just gonna have to wait and see. Trust Remy, _chere_, he promises you won't regret it."

" Ah never thought Ah would.", she said as she pushed a strained of hair back into place. " Ah'd just like to know what ya' ll got planned for us that's all."

" Well, you'll just have to wait and see, like Remy said.", he whispered.

Rogue decided to approach him a different way, to see if she could figure anything out about their evening. " So how long have you been planning this?", she asked as she slid closer to him.

" How do you know its not a spur of the moment thing?" He asked.

" Because Ah know you.", she said " And this type of thing takes planning, even for a charmer like you are."

He grinned. "It took awhile, Remy'll admit but it was worth it to see the look on your face girl."

" Ah'm glad Ah amused you", she said mock angrily, crossing her arms over her chest.

He reached out, and for the first time she saw he was wearing a pair of thin leather gloves, tipping her chin towards him,. " Remy was hoping tonight could be about both of us, amusing ourselves _P'tite_."

Oh dear God.

Rogue wasn't sure she _wanted_ to know what he meant by _that._

"So that's where you went this morning?" she asked, trying to catch her breath. "To get Jubilee?"

He nodded and leaned back against his own seat"Had to meet da jet, and stash her at my place till we were gone, as well as do a few other things."

The car stopped and the driver moved to open he door for them, and Rogue could see that they were at one of the most well known Creole restaurants in the French Quarter. As she stepped out of the car , Marie noticed that the sky was graying down. "Ah think it's gonna rain." she observed to Gambit as they hurried inside.

When they entered, they stood for a moment while the waiter went to make sure their table was ready and Rogue looked around curiously at her surrounding. The restaurant wasn't large, in fact it was quite the opposite, Xavier's dining room at the mansion was bigger by far, but it gave it a cozy air that Marie instantly liked. Tables were clustered around the restaurant center, while others sat back in secluded alcoves along the side walls. Black lace curtains provided privacy to couples who obviously wanted an intimate atmosphere while candles lit the tables giving off a soft lit glow. The soft jazz music that Rogue had come to associate with New Orleans, permeated the air as a live jazz band played on a platform off to the restaurants edge.

It was to one of these secluded tables that the hostess led them, not to Rogue's surprise as she slid into the booth, setting her purse beside her as she watched Gambit peruse the wine menu. He picked a bottle off of the list and handed the list back to the waitress, before turning to her with a smile. " Well.", he said as she left to get their drinks. " What'cha think _chere?_."

" Ah like it.", she said with a nod as she glanced over the menu with a barely concealed smile.

" Good.", he said picking her hand up and kissing it from across the table as she felt her heart jump. " Because Remy aims to please."

The waitress returned with the wine, pouring them a glass before taking out a pad of paper to take their orders. " Ah'll have a tossed salad and then the Crawfish Etouffee ." Rogue said handing her the menu .

Remy looked at the menu for a moment longer before closing it and handing it to the waitress. " I'll have a tossed salad as well and den da Jambalaya.", he said as he handed it to her.

" Ahright.", the waitress said as she took it down and hurried off.

Rouge took a sip of her wine, and smiled as she listened to the music coming from the band. " So, your really not gonna tell me what you've got planned?", she said.

" It's drivin you crazy, girl, isn't it?,", he said with rakishly wide smile as he buttered a piece of bred and passed it to her. " Not knowing what Remy's got up his sleeve."

" Besides an Ace of Hearts?" She said mock innocently as she took it, battling her lashes at him.

He made a face at her. " Very funny ."

He looked out at the band and then turned with her. " It's gonna be awhile 'till the food comes P'tite .", he said and then beckoned over his shoulder to the small dance floor where a several couples were dancing. " Ya wanna dance?"

" Ah'd love too Sugah", she said rising and taking his hand as he stood and offered it. Rogue let him lead her out on the dance floor as the band began to play a slow song.

Automatically Remy wound an arm around her waist, pulling her close as he rested one hand in the small of her back and the other between her shoulder blades. She rested her head against his chest, loving the warmth from his body and its strength, draping her arms around his neck as they swayed to the music.

For a moment, everything seemed perfect, suspended so that nothing existed outside. Time seemed to still and everyone else on the dance floor was gone, all except them. The lights seemed to dim and fade away to a defused glow and it was all Rogue could do not to sigh in tranquility, she'd never felt as close to anyone as she did at that moment.

" Ah don't want this to end.", she whispered looking up at him.

" It won't _Mon Coeur_." He said as they continued to dance. "It won't, Remy won't let it."

Eventually though, the music slowed and came to a stop, much to her regret and, they were left on the floor alone for a moment before turning and returning to their table. Unaware of the glances they were getting from the other patrons in the restaurant, not knowing how much of a striking couple they actually made.

A moment after they had returned, their waitress brought their food and set it in front of them with a flourish. The smell alone was enough to make her mouth water as she began to eat . It was spicier then she'd thought it would be and Remy laughed as she took a sip of wine trying to get the burning sensation out of her mouth. " Its good.", she wheezed, wondering if her taste buds would survive the night.

" It's Cajun,", he said as he dug into his own with a fervor. " If it ain't good and spicy then something wrong."

Rogue shook her head, she was used to spicy food, it was just a shock that something could be that spicy and not come with a warning label of some kind. Still she had to admit, it was good food, the best she'd had in along time, ironically enough, probably the last time Remy had cooked dinner for her.

Dessert, came in the form of double caramel pecan fudge, cheesecake that Rogue was sure would add ten pounds to her hips just by looking at it. The taste however was enough to make her out all other thoughts out of her mind. She took a sip of another sip of her Brandy Alexander and tried not to think about the fact that if she kept eating the way she was eating, none of her cloths would fit by the time she got home. "Ah can't believe you won't let me drink coffee but you'll let demolish this", she said, finished, as she watched him finish off his own Peach Cobbler.

He shrugged and set his own fork aside, taking a sip of his own drink as he beckoned the waitress for the check. "Jean didn't say you couldn't have any of _that_."

Trust the Cajun to find a good excuse and plausible for everything.

When they left the restaurant a few moments later, it had begun to rain, a slow steady warm drizzle that Rogue knew would probably turn into banger of a thunderstorm before long. They hurried to the waiting Limo and slid inside as the rain began to fall lightly against the roof as they began to make their way to _wherever_ Remy was taking them. He still refused to any where he was taking her, despite her badgering.

When the limo stopped some ten minute later, Rogue knew that they had left the French Quarter, and now where somewhere in the city, she just didn't know _where_ that somewhere was. She looked out the tinted window beside her and was surprised to find that they had stopped in front of a large building in the Garden District, The museum of Creole culture, or at least that's what the sign outside said. "What are we doin here?" she asked him perplexed. "Ah thought you said we were going for drinks Sugah?"

"We are." he said as the driver opened the door and they stepped out" At the best place, Remy knows of." He saw the questioning look on her face and just smiled with a shake of his head as they continued on their way, running to get out of the rain that was rapidly coming down.

He paid the limo driver and then took her by the hand, leading her up the pathway to the building's main doors. It was then she noticed, another oak door, set right beside the main set of front ones. It was this door, Remy opened with a key, stepping aside so she could go first. He took her by the hand again as she looked around and led her down a hallway to an elevator, which they both stepped inside. "Where are we going?" she asked as the elevator began to go up.

"Well ya see", he said as the elevator ground to a halt "It's only the bottom half of the building that's a museum _chere,_ the top half is… home."

"Home.", she said, looking at him as he opened the elevator door. "Wait, this is your place Sugah?"

"One and da same," he said pulling her out of the elevator.

As he did, Rogue got her first good look at his apartment. It was a loft, taking up one whole floor of the building, with huge bay windows lining one wall. She could see practically the whole city from where she was standing just inside the door. As Remy hit a switch the lights came on dimly and she could see, it was carpeted in a deep blue. The furniture, both couches and a recliner, in the living area were leather while coffee table was a solid polished oak. A large screen TV sat off to the side of the sofa as well as a top of the line stereo and entertainment system.

Off to her left was a large kitchen table and a fully stocked kitchen with stainless steel fixtures and raw wood countertops and off to the left of that was a large fully stocked liquor cabinet. To her right was a pool table, and a large oak bookshelf, full to overflowing with novels and magazines.

The masterpiece of the whole place though was clearly the king sized bed that was set near the bay windows . It was huge, the headboard a deep cherry wood, and it was covered with a navy blue comforter. It was clearly the master of the house, dominating all the other furniture by far . It figured though, that a man like Remy would have the best bed possible, given the fact he flirted with everything that moved. Rogue let herself grin, or at least he _used _too.

As she looked around the room she began to notice things, like the fact that there was roses and wine, and scarves sitting on the kitchen table and every other flat surface like the coffee table, or that fact that he'd turned the stereo on and soft music was playing.

Rogue was beginning to think she'd been set up.

She looked over at Remy and got _the look_. The, I'm irresistible, I'm able to seduce anything female that breathes look, that only Remy got. The one that _always_ worked on her, no matter what her mood was or how hard she resisted and knew she was in _big _trouble.

He took a step towards her and she took a step back warily darting around the sofa as he made a playful grab for her. He chased her around the sofa, finally catching her as she laughed and let him. " Do you realize your completely insane Cajun?", she asked as he dipped her low over his arm.

" Do you realize when you're being set up _Mon P'tite_ ?_"_ he asked as she looked up at him.

"So that's what tonight was about?" she said "To get me here, to seduce me into bed."

"Maybe", he said "Or maybe it was partly about showing you a good time in my town and partly that."

She looked up at him, mock seriously. " Ah aught to be furious at you"

" Are you?", he asked, gazing at her heatedly again with his red on black eyes.

" No,", she said reluctantly after a moment.

" Good.", he said as he grabbed the nearest scarf off of the coffee table. "Because dat means the rest of da evening can be _as fun _as Remy planned." He leaned down and kissed her through the scarf as she wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

A part of her was chastising herself for falling for his charms _yet_ again, saying she should resist until they had been together longer while another part of her was crying out for his touch, for the feeling his body pressed again hers and the strength and safety it provided. The latter won out, as the kiss intensified and deepened as much as it could, he reached up and cupped her cheek, stroking softly.

When they broke apart, he set her on her feet, still holding her close as they listened to the rain pounding on the roof in droves. "You're awful has anyone ever told you that?' she said good naturedly.

"Hey you started dis", he said kissing her temple. "Remy's just continuing it."

He pulled back, serious for a moment as he looked at her and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Seriously though _chere_," he said as he tucked it behind her ear affectionately "Remy set dis up for you and he, but if you want to go, if you'd rather we wait awhile longer, den we'll go. If you don't want to be here den we'll go get dat drink or go dancing, and I won't say a word about it."

He was giving her an out, she knew, in case she wasn't ready and if anything it made her want him and love him , even more then she already did. He was all about seduction, but he then he wasn't going to pressure her into doing she didn't wholly want to do.

Rogue slipped the scarf between them and pulled him close, kissing him tenderly as she rested her arms on his chest. After a moment she pulled back and smiled up at him. "Remy." she said "If Ah didn't want to be here, then Ah'd have walked out that door the minute Ah figured out what ya were planning.", she settled his hands at her waist and looked into his heated gaze. " Ah'm here because Ah want to be and, no, Ah don't want to leave, Ah want to stay here with you."

It was all he needed to hear, as he swept her up in his arms, all his plans for a long slow seduction gone, as a primal need swept through both of them. She wound her arms his neck as he lowered his head and kissed her through her neck scarf, trying to maintain his control and fighting all the way. Rogue kicked off her heels as he steered them towards the bed, never breaking the contact between them for an instant. He set her down on the silk comforter, pausing for a moment to kick off his own shoes, and then crawled down on the bed beside her, realizing just good she looked on his bed, how much she truly belonged there.

He eased himself up beside her, tracing the curve of her bodily through her dress with his hand as he did so, until he was at her side. He stared down at her for a moment, smiling as he did so.

" What?", she said nervously.

"Nothing ." He said " Remy's just amazed at how beautiful you are."

She slid closer to him, running her gloved fingers up and down his arm, as the sexual tension began to build between them. " Ah love you, Remy."

" I love you too _Mon Chere_", he said as he leaned in and kissed her through her scarf .

The spark between them shot to life instantly as she rested her hand on his neck and drew him closer to her, she wanted, no she _needed_, to feel him against her as close as possible. The kiss intensified and Rogue let herself fall completely into it as she arched her body against his in a vain attempt to ease the tension that was coiling in her body. His legs brushed against her, tangling with hers and she sucked in her breath, feeling his arousal pressed against her thigh.

As they broke apart, Remy reached down and around, undoing the zipper on her dress, and slipping a hand inside against, her body stocking covered back for a moment, letting her feel him, until at last he moved her dressed foreword, baring one of her shoulders, and kissing down word from the base of her neck to the covered flesh he had just exposed.

She stroked the back of his neck encouraging him on, as she pulling his shirt out of his pants and began to fumble with the buttons, popping a few in her haste to push the shirt off of his shoulders. When she had, she tossed it across the room, leaving him clad only a pair of dress pants while she was still fully dressed. He began to work her dress down over her shoulders, pulling the lacy fabric away until she was clad only in the dark, silky, full covering body stocking she had chosen to wear under her dress that evening.

He settled her arms around his neck, while he kissed the base of her neck again, letting his mouth drift down to capture one of her nipples through the body stocking's sheer fabric. Rogue cried out in shock and pleasure, as he swept his tongue over the turgid peak, sucking gently, while he captured her other breast with his hand, stroking mercilessly until she was gasping incoherently. She arched her back, trying to draw him closer into her as she grabbed onto the silk comforter for support.

Rogue could feel his erection against her tight, and absently she reached down and ran her fingers lightly down him, undoing his zipped and slipping a gloved hand inside his pant, as he sucked in his breath and his red on black eyes flashed up to hers. She cupped him with her fingers, caressing gently, feeling the weight of him in her palm as she teased him with nimble fingers. She could feel him straining against her hand, and she felt a thrill go through her as she realized the power her touch could have over him.

She pushed him to the brink, feeling as his control slipped away, until she knew he was close to coming as she stoked up and down his hard shaft, cupping the head of his penis in her hand, feeling the smooth, hot head until she thought he was going to scream. Finally he reached out and stopped her with a gasp, and she knew he was trying to maintain control. She smiled as he kissed her again and knew he was as lost in them as she was, but wanting more, wanting everything, like she did.

He reached down, finding the slit in her body stocking easily and began to stroke her, glad he had remembered to wear his gloves, finding her wet and ready for him. Remy grinned, and slipped a finger inside her as she arched her back again, and muffled a cry, finding her swollen clit and teasing it with his fingers as she cried out, thrashing her head on the pillows. She could feel herself building to her climax as he continued to stroke her but turned his attention back to her breasts; Lavishing attention on one and then the other as she hugged his head against her and ground her hips against his erection.

Suddenly Rogue came with a cry, feeling her body fly as she let go and fell, feeling sparks shoot through her body as her body shuddered and came back down . She reached down and pulled him up and against her, not wanting to wait anymore, wanting to feel him inside her so badly.

" Remy.", she whispered against his shoulder as she helped him removed his pants. " Ah can't wait anymore…",

She could feel him shaking and she knew he was as close as she was. " Remy can't ether _Mon Coeur_", he whisper as he reached around her and grabbed a condom from where he had set them earlier on the night stand. She took it from him, and rolled it down his shaft expertly, giving him one long final stroke before she wrapped her arms around him again.

He looked down at her, and kissed her again as with one thrust he slid comfortably inside of her, sheathing himself in her body, feeling more in tune with her then he had ever been with anyone else.

For a moment they hung there, letting their bodies adjust as they came together for the first time in three years. Then he began to move slowly, gliding almost of her completely before plunging into her totally, driving both of them to another higher peak then the ones they had been to before. It was more then sex, more then a physical joining, it was like a re-joining of two halves that should have never been part and both Rogue and Remy, knew and felt that.

Rogue matched his thrusts, grinding her hips against his, as she dug her nails into his back, and called his name, feeling herself going higher and higher until all she could feel was him, and nothing else mattered. She groaned as he reached between them and found her clit again, stroking her even as he was deep inside her and knew she wouldn't be able to last much longer. He was whispering French endearments to her, words she loved, even if she didn't quite understand them all and she arched a leg over his hip drawing him even closer inside her still as she tighten her muscles around him and let herself go.

A moment later she came with a cry, holding him close as he gave one final thrust and came an instant later, calling her name and collapsing against her with the force of it. They soared and fly together, and the world disappeared until it was just the two of them, and nothing else mattered as they fell back to earth and fell asleep in each others arms.

The next morning, they sat together on Remy's balcony, watching the sun come and Rogue didn't want the night to be over, she wanted things to stay exactly the way they were. She kissed his temple as he looked up at her, she was sitting on his lap wrapped in a blanket while he was dressed in a pair of jeans. " Ah wish we could stay like this forever.", she murmured leaning against him.

" Who says we can't ", He said as he held her. " Just cause we're going home, don't mean things have to change much?"

' Ah know", she said as she stole a sip of his coffee . " Promise me one thing though, okay Cajun?"

" Anything", he said, toying with her hair.

" Never get rid of this apartment if you can help it Ah mean, Ah want us to be able to come back here, okay?" She said and he laughed as he wrapped his arms tighter around her.

" You got it _chere,_", he said as he kissed her through the blanket.

"Promise?", she asked again

"Remy promises", he said with a nod as he picked her up and carried her back inside to their bed, so they could enjoy the few hours left they had before they had to leave.

The sun could rise the rest of the way without them.

**To be continued… **


	5. Heart Sick

                                                            IV

With a whistle, as he shuffled his cards absently, Remy headed down the hall, towards his and Rogue's rooms, wondering why his _P'tite_ had missed the 7:00 am debriefing that Scott had made them suffer through that morning. She'd been up early every morning for the week and a half that they had been home, partially because he had been there to wake her up every day with his _distracting _tactics. The evening before, however he'd had to go out with Scott and Logan to round up a group of curfew breakers, namely the older boys, who had gone into town and hadn't been back for lights out at midnight.  Since he hadn't gotten back until after two in the morning, he'd opted to sleep in his old room across the hall, instead of waking Rogue and Trey up by coming in so late and stomping around the apartment.

He had discovered quite by fact that morning, that after a mere week of sleeping in the same bed as Rogue, he no longer liked waking alone and that even one night apart made him miss her. It was a different situation at the manor now that they were _a couple_ again, he still had his apartment and she had hers but he was spending the nights with her, and most of his days as well. He had the feeling, he wouldn't be living in his rooms for much longer, most of his cloths were already in her closets and his possessions were slowly wheedling there way across the hall. A year ago that would have scared the hell out of him, and now it was all he wanted. Time really could change things fast; he was beginning to realize just how true that was.

He stopped at their door, and swiped the pass key through the lock, part of Xavier's new security features, and opened the door slipping inside and shutting it behind him. He'd expected to find the flat, still and quiet but to his surprise, the TV was on and Trey was sitting on the couch, dressed, watching Spiderman cartoons. He looked up as Remy came in, jumping off of the couch and running to him with his arms extended.

"Papa, Papa, Papa!" he said as Remy swung him up in his arms and kissed the top of his head.

"Hey son," he said, as he settled him in his arms. "What'cha doing?"

"Watching 'Toons." Trey said as Remy walked them into the living room and set him back on the couch settling beside him. "Waiting for Mama."

"Where is your Mama?" Remy asked, looking around worriedly. It wasn't like her to leave Trey alone, for any period of time.

"She's in da bathroom." Trey said as he began to watch cartoons again.

"Still in da shower, huh?" Remy asked, ruffling his son's hair.

"No.", Trey said innocently as Remy handed him his deck of cards and he began to play with them. "She's throw' in up."

Remy looked at his son as worry began to surge through him. "Are you sure Trey?"

The little boy nodded as he began to clumsily try and shuffle the cards like his father had showed him. "Uh huh."

"Right", Remy said standing. "You stay here and play, practice what Papa showed ya, all right. Papa's gonna go see if your Mama's okay." He turned and gave his son one final kiss on the head before, leaving the room and heading towards her bathroom, located off of the bedroom.

He entered and crossed the empty bedroom, hearing the tell tale sound of someone being sick to their stomach as he approached the door and knocked softly. _"Chere.",_ he called through it as he heard the toilet flush. "Ya be alright in den there?"

"Ah'm fine." Rogue called back in a raspy voice, soon followed by the sound of water running. When she opened the door a moment later and emerged, the pallor of her skin alarmed him immediately as did the deep circles under her eyes. She was already dressed in her workout cloths with her hair pulled high on top of her head in a pony tail but she looked like she hadn't slept at all or even tried too. 

"Are you sure?" he asked as he followed her out of the bedroom and back out into the living room, not believing her one bit.

"Yeah," she said, heading for the fridge and pouring herself a glass of juice. "It's just ah upset stomach, that's all." She turned to Trey, who had followed them into the kitchen "Could you go get your backpack, baby? we gotta go."

He nodded and, turning ran to get it from his room.

"Ya missed da debriefing, dis morning, dat's all." Remy said, crossing his arms over her chest as he watched her concerned. "Scooter wasn't pleased."

"Ah slept through it, okay?" she said as she put her glass in the sink and turned to face him.

Remy doubted it; he suspected from the look of her that she'd been sick all night and in the bathroom but he wasn't going to push her on the issue. She looked like hell on a stick, but he wasn't going to say _that _ether, he wanted to have sex again with her in his life time. "Alright," he said "It wasn't much anyways, just filling us all in on Magneto's movements, Remy'll fill you in." 

Rogue nodded, rubbing her temple as they both headed for the door of the apartment. "You sure you want to go?" he asked as he wrapped an arm around her protectively. "Ya looked beat, girl."

"Ah'm fine, really." she said as Trey joined them and they headed out the apartment door. "It's nothing to worry about."  She gave him a glance over as she locked the door and they started towards the daycare. "You didn't come in last night," she said absently "I was worried."

"Sorry hon." he said as he kissed her hair. "It took us four night clubs and two bars, ta find da boys. Remy didn't get home till after two, he didn't want to wake you by coming in that late."

"Ah was up.", she said mildly as they reached the daycare.

Of that he had no doubt now, with the way she looked at the moment.

He watched as Trey scampered off to play with his friends and then turned back to her. "Ya ready?" he asked as they headed towards The Danger Room.

"Yup," she said praying she was hiding the way she was feeling well enough.

In actuality her head was pounding, her throat was sore and her stomach felt like it was on a roller coaster, it had all night and most of the day before but she'd been ignoring it. Her good sense was telling, this was no physical state to train, she should know better, in but her stubborn nature was saying, she wasn't going to let a little stomach bug stop her from completing the new team training drills. Still her good sense was nagging, her that training wasn't a good idea that she should go home and rest but she pushed them aside as they reached the steel doors to the round room.

Remy stopped her, just as they were hurrying in. " Now, your sure your up to dis, cause Remy's thinkin it's better idea to go back upstairs and call Jean to have a look at you.."

"Ah told a million time, Ah'm fine", she snapped as she suppressed a cough. She groaned inwardly as she acknowledged she was coming down with something.

Remy shook his head. "Remy don't like dis, it ain't right, you be in no to state to fight today, even pretend fighting. Your sick, Rogue, let's just go home, so you can sleep it off."

"No," she said childishly, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away. 

"Dis is what Jean is talking 'bout.", he said quietly, not wanting the others to her them arguing in the hallway. "Ya don't take care of yourself, you push yourself girl, when you should be taken it easy."

She pulled opened the gym door without waiting for him and went inside as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Obstinate", he muttered as he followed her, not surprised to find they were the last one's there. Jubilee, Scott, Jean, Kitty and Sam " Cannonball" Guthrie all turned and looked their way as they crossed the gym, and took their places among the group. Bobby Drake was noticeably absent, and Gambit felt a moment of sadness as he remembered he had left the team a week before after a disagreement with Cykes and the Professor, he was a good fighter, it was a hell of a shame to lose him.

Scott gave Rogue the once over from his position off to the side and Rogue knew she'd be getting a lecture from him after the training session was over. She'd have to point out that Cannonball rarely ever came to group training, (hell he rarely ever got up before noon) just to save her ass, she just knew it.

Jean for her part came over to stand beside Rogue, looking concerned as she took in her friend's haggard air. "You alright?" she asked quietly, so only they could hear. She didn't want to alert the team to Rogue's condition if it was nothing serious. She looked fine outwardly for most parts, but Jean knew (And she knew Gambit knew) Rogue well enough to pick up on the fact she was feeling poorly if the signs were faint, the rest of the team would quickly pick up on it as well.

As the school's doctor, Jean wasn't about to let Rouge enter training stimulation if she was sick and couldn't handle it, it was far too dangerous for both herself and the team because they were counting on her. As Rogue's friend she was worried because Rogue looked awful and it scared and worried her for her friends well being.

"Fine.", Rogue said and she knew Jean didn't believe her for an instant. She winced inwardly, as she mentally kicked herself for trying to fool, not only her _best friend _and _a telepath_, at that, that she was fine when she wasn't.

"I don't think so", Jean said worriedly as she looked into her friends eyes and saw the fatigue there. "I don't buy it Rogue, I know you to well"

Scott walked over as the others looked at them in concern. " Everything all right?", he asked watching as Rogue rolled her eyes like the defiant teenager he'd used to know when she'd first arrived at the mansion.

"No," Gambit put in as he stepped in on the situation, Rogue could feel her control on the situation slipping away like silk in tornado and she didn't like it. "Da _P'tite _one here be sick, but too damn stubborn to admit it."

"_Ah'm fine_," Rogue put in as she rubbed her temples. "And damned tired of saying it, Ah been saying it all morning." True be told, she was just  tired, her bones ached like someone was clubbing her with Remy's 'Bo Staff , which coincidentally she noticed he'd brought with him that morning, for the first time since he'd been back.

"You don't look fine," Jubilee said concerned from the side. "And there is a bad flu going around the mansion, most of the kids in the daycare have it right now, I'm only at half capacity." Which meant Rogue could have easily caught it from Trey, even if he was only carrying the virus and not sick himself.

"Ah don't have the flu", Rogue said. "Ah don't get sick, ever since Ah absorbed Logan's powers."

"Well that's just great," Jubilee said stoically. "Except, if you look around, you'll notice _he's not here_. He's sick with the flu, in bed, where I left him." The last part was muttered but Rogue heard it anyways.

Rogue could feel herself going down as much as she didn't want too. "Ah'm not sick." she insisted but even as she said it though, a wave of dizziness and nausea hit her and the room seemed to tilt on an odd angle. She took a step back, and shook her head a bit, trying to clear it away as she fought her raging stomach into submission.

"Rogue!" Remy said, catching her arm as she tried to steady herself. Rogue looked at him, and tried again to clear her head as her vision blurred for a moment and she saw two of him. She opened her mouth to tell him she was okay but at that moment the world tilted again, and then began to spin around her. She felt herself begin to fall, and was vaguely aware of Remy catching her, as she passed out cold and total blackness overtook her.

Twenty minutes later in the infirmary, Remy leaned against the wall outside as he waited for Jean to finish examining Rogue. He tried to calm the fear in his gut as he took a drag off of the cigarette he was holding, letting the smoke drift towards the ceiling.  He felt guilt wash through him as he thought of her lying unconscious, he should have forced her to go home and rest but she just wouldn't listen to him.

He'd carried her to the infirmary and he'd been shocked at how _hot_ she felt in his arms, she was burning with fever and he'd never even noticed, even when he'd had his arm around her.  It had to be pretty bad if her fever was that high, he didn't understand why he hadn't picked up on just how bad she was until it was too late.

Remy had wanted to be in the room with her when Jean examined her, but Jean had insisted he wait outside while she worked on Rogue. It had taken Sam and Scott to hold him back from following her in, and even then he was sure he'd given Cannonball, a few bruised ribs in the process.

Hearing a noise, Remy whirled around as Jean emerged from the examining room, carrying a tray of medical instruments in her hands. She raised an eyebrow at the ciggy in his hand as she moved past him to set the tray on a near by lab table. "I could say a lot about you smoking that in here." she said as she turned to face him.

"Wouldn't do a damned good though," he said as took a final drag and dropped the butt in near by metal basin. "How is she?"

Jean smiled, seeing how worried he was and walking over, patted him on the shoulder. "She's going to be fine, Remy, it's just the flu, it's a _severe strain_ of the flu, but it's just the flu none the less. "

"So it wasn't her blood pressure?" he asked, heaving a sigh of relief.

"No," Jean said as she made a notation on Rogue's charts, "_That_ was actually normal." She sighed as she took off her glasses and set them aside. "This flu is hitting the mansion hard, I've seen more cases of it in the last few days then I ever have before, and it's _not even_ flu season."

She watched as Remy sunk against the wall, and she could see the emotions he was trying to suppress as he hung his head in relief. "Hey", she said as she walked over to him and tipped his chin towards her. "It's just the flu, she's gonna be fine, LeBeau, just give it a few days."

 She knew even as she said it though, it didn't matter. It didn't matter if it was a few day, or a week its might as well have been a million years because it was someone he loved. She knew because she got the same way whenever Scott or the kids were sick, time stopped until they were well again.

"She just looked so... white," he said quietly. "And _small_… helpless", he looked up at Jean, as he cleared his throat. "She was so _still _when we brought her in, when Remy was carrying her, she didn't move none. Remy's not used to seeing her like dat, it threw him for a loop, Red."

"I know." she said " And I know what your feeling but the good thing is, it's not something serious, she'll get over this. Maybe it'll prod her to start taking care of herself."

"She'd got me to do dat for her," Remy said gruffly.

"She's a lucky woman then," Jean smiled. "Seriously thought, I know what you're feeling, the first time Scott got sick when we were together, I nearly went crazy with worry  and Scott did the same thing, the first time Livvy got a cold, now he sleeps through them.",

Remy laughed. "Can I go in and see her?"

Jean raised an eyebrow as she went back to her work. "Actually I'm surprised you're not already in there, Cajun."

Remy nodded and turning went into the side room where Rogue lay, sleeping from the sedative Jean had given her. She really did look small and pale, among the blankets, the sheets almost matched the color of her skin He smoothed back her hair as he took a seat beside the bed, and decided to wait and let her wake up on her own. Trey was at the daycare, so he had time and Rogue needed the sleep. He leaned forward and took her gloved hand in his own, kissing the back of it as he sat back in his chair.

And then he waited.

Rogue slowly came around and opened her eyes for a brief instant then shut them as a pain sliced through her temples. She waited for a moment then open them again, slowly becoming aware of her surrounding as she did so. She was vaguely aware of the fact that she was lying in a bed, wrapped in blankets and it wasn't her bed, in her room. As she moved gingerly, she noticed that an IV, attached to a bag of fluids was inserted in her left wrist and the events of that morning came back to her in a dizzying rush of memories. As it did she sunk back against the pillows again with a frustrated sigh, she was sick and in the med lab, the last place she'd ever wanted to be.

Rogue winced as the last of the painkillers began to wear off, her back ached something fierce and her chest and throat ached as well. She moved to shift to her side, only to be stopped by something heavy lying beside her.

She turned her head slowly to see what it was and smiled as she saw the top of a head of auburn hair, resting on the bed at her side. Remy was sound asleep, with his head on his arms, on the edge of the bed. Becoming more alert by the minute, Rouge noticed someone had thoughtfully clad her in a hospital gown and left her gloves on her hands. She reached up and stroked the top of Remy's head, running her fingers through his hair as he jerked awake at her touch.

"Hey," she said weakly.

"Hey, yourself," he said as he sat up and took her hand, kissing the back of it as he watched her cautiously. "How ya be feeling?"

"Tired", she said honestly. "And sore." She'd no sooner spoken then a coughing jag took her by surprise, taking her breath away as it escalated into a full fledged fit. Remy quickly helped her sit up and take a drink from a glass of water from the nearby night stand. After it was over he settled her back against the pillows and pushed her hair out of her eyes as she tried to speak. "That was fun," she said sarcastically. "Let's never do it again okay?"

He smiled but she could see the worry in his eyes. "If dat's what ya want _chere_."

Rogue took a wheezing breath and let it out slowly. "How long was Ah out?"

"A good portion of da day," he said "Its dinner now."

"Where's Trey?" she asked wearily.

"With Jean and Cykes, having dinner," he said "Remy sent him off earlier."

"Does he know Ah'm in here?" she asked, hating the fact she had to play twenty questions to find anything out.

Remy nodded "Jean said your gonna be in here few days, so I told him that Mama has a bad cold and has to stay in the med lab. Jean's gonna bring him down for a bit later before I go put him to bed."

"So what's wrong with me?" she asked. "The flu, I take it?"

He nodded again. "Yeah, thank da gods, it wasn't anything worse. You'll be good as new in a couple of weeks."

"Weeks? That bad huh?" she muttered "And Ah have to stay here for a few _days_?"

"Jean says, ya can go up to our rooms in a few days if ya feel up to it", he said. "But it all depends on how you feel," he shook his head. "Ya gave us all a good scare _P'tite_ one, Remy especially."

"Ah'm sorry," she said as she coughed again. "Ah didn't mean too."

 "Remy knows," said as he stroked her brow. "What Remy's unclear off, is why _da hell_ you didn't say you were feeling as poor as you were?" He glowered at her unconvincingly as he spoke. He'd been able to see something was wrong, he just didn't think it was that bad "You should have spoken up."

Rogue changed the subject quickly. "Have ya'll noticed that all you seem to do lately is chastised me for things I do or don't do?"

"Because you worry me", he said seriously. "Because ya don't take care of yourself like you should. You're stressing yourself out to the point of sickness and exhaustion, despite a lengthy vacation, because ya don't take time for yourself to relax"

"Ah don't have time," she said stubbornly, looking away. Remy however, was trying to make a point and he wasn't going to let it go, not anymore. He reached out and gentled turned her face so she was looking at him and she could see the mixture of concern and anger in his dark eyes.

"Den _start making_ da time," he said sternly. "It's not as if ya can't girl, with me and da others around."

"Remy," she said warningly, not liking where this was going. "It's just the flu, your blowing this way out of proportion."

"_This time_ it was da flu," he said "But next time, it could be a heart attack or an injury fighting because you won't stop even if you need too. Remy don't want come home, someday and find you at death's door because of your stubborn nature. I don't won't to lose you _chere, ever _and I'm real afraid that's what does gonna happen if you keep pushing yourself the way you are."

Rogue opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.

"No," he said, holding up a hand to silence her for a moment. "How many times since Remy's been back has he offered to watch Trey so you can do things for yourself, like shopping with Jean, or going to da movies with Jubilee and Storm or hell, even sitting down and watching da TV for a few hours? How many, huh?"

It was more then a few, she knew and he knew it as well. Remy watched as a guilty expression settled on her face and sighed inwardly, this wasn't what he wanted to do at the moment. Fighting with her, or at least arguing with her, when she was sick and unable to truly fight back was low, but he was so scared he was going to lose her that he was willing to look beyond it.

"A few." Rogue said reluctantly.

"More den few," he said "And every time ya said no and hurried off to train or work on your lesson plans or do some type of work at home," He looked at her for a moment then something dawned on him, completely out of the blue. He gaped at her, "Ya don't really trust me with Trey, do you?"

Rogue looked away again, feeling tears fill her eyes.

_"Rogue!!"_

She could hear the hurt and scandalized tone in his voice as she closed her eyes to stop the tears from flowing unsuccessfully. Her silence was her answer and she knew it cut him like a knife.

Remy laughed harshly after a moment. "And here Remy was thinkin, we'd gotten past this, with everything that had happened in da last few weeks. Especially since New Orleans." He shook his head, disbelievingly "I told you before, I'd never hurt him intentionally or you again, and you still don't really trust me, do you?'

"Ah'm sleeping with you aren't Ah?" she said, regretting the words the moment she said them.

"_Merde,_ dat don't mean you trust me," he said "Dat just means's your human with human needs _chere._" He sighed, suddenly looking very old and tired to her as she appraised him. 

"You don't know what it's like to be a single parent", she said quietly. "Ah've been on my own for three years, Remy, you can't expect me to change in a few weeks."

"No", he agreed, stroking her hand. "Remy don't, and he don't expect for all da trust to come back right away and as to being a parent, single or not why don't ya let me try _cher_, and see how I do before calling judgment on me?"

She nodded "Your right."

"Yes I am," he said as he rose. He kissed her hand and moved to leave her side for the moment. "Remy's gonna go and see if Jean's ready to bring Trey down to visit."

"Ahright," she said, wishing she could re-do the entire conversation they'd just had.

Remy moved to the door then turned back for a moment with a soft scowl. "Remy's said he had to realize trust needs to build slowly but you got something to realize _Mon Coeur_ as well."

"What?" she said tiredly.

"Da term _single parent_ no longer applies to you Rogue_,_" He said seriously. "Remy's here, and we can fight and yell, all you want but he's not going anywhere, not if he can help it. Your alone anymore, dat's what you need to realize. Remy's here to stay, you can't scare me off, so let me help you; don't turn me away, especially when you need me. I love you Rogue, you and Trey are everything to me", he shrugged and moved to leave " As to dat trust, well Remy don't know  when that'll come completely, he hopes soon, but he's _definitely _sticking around to wait and find out. You could put a bet on it honey, because it be easy money." 

He smiled at her, "Remy'll go get da boy, I'll be back in a few minutes, just think 'bout what he said though while Remy's gone, because it all be true." He turned and left as Rogue sighed and curled farther into her blankets, suddenly feeling very old and tired herself.

Later that evening, long after midnight when the mansion was quiet and still, after Trey had left and Jean had ordered Remy back to their rooms, to get some much needed sleep, Rogue was alone with her thoughts, and the annoying beep of the heart monitor Jean  had insisted she be hooked up too. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, giving up on trying to go to sleep as she shifted to her side. She felt terrible about the conversation she and Remy had, had. Even though he hadn't said anything while Trey had been there, she knew he was hurt and mad, and that bothered her to the extreme.

She held up the medallion she wore, like she had a month before and wondered if she even deserved to be wearing it after tonight. She felt her mind drift back to their conversation, as she immersed her herself in it like a warm bath. She hadn't meant what she'd implied; she did trust Remy with her life, her body and just about everything she had. It was just that she knew what he was like, what they both were like and what their relationship was like in the past, she didn't want Trey to get hurt because of the way they were, she was protecting him.

She felt a tear trickle down her cheek and hit the pillow, as she began to realize just how unfounded her fears were, if New Orleans had taught or showed her anything, it was that.  She loved Remy with all her heart, yet still she found it hard to let go and wait to see what happened, especially when so much was on the line. She knew inwardly she had to though, if she wanted thing to work, for them to become a family, she just hoped she had the strength to do so when the time came.

Rogue had already let her heart and body fall for him totally, now she just had to have the strength to let herself put everything aside, every issue of the past and present, and trust him implicitly, one step at a time.

She closed her eyes, and leaned back against the pillows, feeling herself begin to drowse after all when all of a sudden she heard movement in the hallway, the soft steps of someone approaching her room. Her senses on alert, Rogue closed her eyes and waited to see who it was, Jean probably to check on her she figured.

Rogue opened her eyes, a fraction of an inch, and had to stop a quick intake of breath at the sight she saw.

Remy, auburn hair flying in every direction, dressed in a black robe, a white t-shirt and black silk boxers, had come into the room and was preparing to bed down in the chair beside her bed, looking sleep deprived and haggard as she had ever seen him. As she watched out of the corner of her eye he grabbed the spare blanket off of the end of the bed and wrapped it around himself, before settling his head down on the edge of the bed on his arms.

Rogue could have sworn she heard him mutter to the air "Much better.", as he did so, even though she knew he wasn't comfortable the way he was.

 And despite their earlier argument, despite all her misgiving and the fact that she was sick, despite the fact she knew he'd been angry she reached out sleepily and lifted his chin on the tips of her fingers until he was looking at her in surprise… and then she shifted and made room for him beside her, or at least as much room as she could given the fact, the bed was a single hospital bed. Remy smiled, and gently slid up beside her, pulling her blankets tighter around her securely before resting his head lightly on her covered shoulder, and one arm across her stomach.

Rogue pulled the blanket over him with her free arm, yawning as she felt sleep begin to take her over, finally. "Much better", she murmured as she kissed the top of his head. "Much, _Much_, better." Remy murmured an agreement as he held her a bit tighter, and they drifted off to sleep.

Together.

Three days later, Rogue was sitting in bed in her room, (having moved there the day before), sorting through a mountain of pictures and papers while she had the time, when Remy came in. " Hey _chere_", he said as he tossed himself down beside her. "What'cha doing?"

Rogue smiled at him, glad he was finally speaking to her without the icy tone that held been in his voice ever since the day they had argued. "Just going through these things," she looked down. "Now that Ah have the time, looks like Am gonna have lot of it too Sugah."

"Remy saw Xavier leaving as he," he said as he made himself comfortable beside her. "He and Scott put you on medical leave huh?"

"Until further notice," she said dully, watching as a tear dropped from, her cheek to the new black comforter. She'd just put on the bed. "He gave me a lecture, on taking care of my self, being responsible, not letting the team down." She'd felt terrible, of all the people, getting a lecture from the Professor, a man she considered a second father, made her feel like a naughty teenager again and it made her realize just how reckless she'd become with her health and her life.

"Hey," Remy said, slipping an arm around her as the tears began to fall. "It's alright _chere;_ you just have to start again, that's all." He looked at the pictures scattered around the bed. "Now, what exactly are, des pictures of?"

"Mostly Trey", she admitted sheepishly as she wiped her cheeks, dry. "Ah went a bit camera crazy when he was born, and just about every day after for the first year." She smiled, and he wondered if she knew how hard it was for him to understand her because she was stuffed up. "Ah never got a chance to put them in albums because Ah was so busy, now Ah do."

She got an inspired look on her face, and sorted rapidly through the pictures until she came up with one and handed it to him. "This was Trey's first picture," she said as she watched a delighted expression cross his face, "Scott took it when he was about five minutes old."

Remy looked at the pictures of Trey in Rogue's arms, hardly believing such a hardy active little boy could ever have been that small and vulnerable. His head would have fit easily into Remy's hands, and the rest of him wasn't much bigger. He was perfect, wrapped in a tiny green blanket, clearly awake and crying at his rude entry into the world. Remy's eyes flashed to Rogue in the picture, finding her smiling, exhausted but triumphant as she lay back against the pillows. She looked pale and weak, obviously tired after the ordeal of giving birth but it was her eyes that bothered him.

 Although she was smiling her eyes were sad, mournful almost as she gazed into the camera, haunted by a sadness that wouldn't leave her for any reason. He knew he was partly the reason for that sadness; his absence would have been noticed more on that day then any other. As he began to sort through the photos, he noticed Rogues' eyes were the same in all of them, sad and drawn, despite what ever she was doing. Holding Trey, playing with him, or giving him a bath, the sadness was always there, something he'd regret for the rest of his life.

Remy finished looking at the stack of photo's and reached for another. He pulled one out; amused when he saw it was of Rogue when she was pregnant. 'Those are all of when Ah was pregnant," she informed him as he held up the photo. He grinned as he looked at the pictures of her, in one she looked like she'd swallowed a watermelon whole, her belly was that big. She was making a face at the camera, clearly a candid shot she didn't like as she lounged by the pool that was behind the mansion. Another was of her lounging on the couch with a bowl of popcorn nestled on her stomach, while yet another was of her laughing, her arms wrapped around her stomach as if to protect the child within from some lame joke that had to be coming from Logan.

"This one's my favorite", she said taking one out of the stack and handing it to him. It was Rogue, dressed in a white off the shoulder toga and stola, clearly a Halloween costume if he'd ever seen one. Her hair was wound up on her head, and held back with a set of gold ivy leaves, and she was smiling as she handed out candy to a small child dressed as a superhero. She looked stunningly Roman and beautiful to him as he perused the photo.

"Why is it your favorite?" he asked as he looked up at her from under his hair.

Rogue laughed, and then coughed into her closed fist. "It's my favorite, Sugah, because, not five minutes after that photo was taken, my water broke and Ah went to labor."

"Really?" he said with a laugh.

"Uh huh." she said "It was the day before Halloween; we were having a fun day for the kids, so all the teachers dressed up. Since Ah tech Ancient history and we were studying Rome at the time, Ah went as a Roman. It didn't help that was the only costume Ah looked half decent in." the last part was muttered, but Remy heard it and laughed none the less. "Anyways, we were having a trick or treat in the mansion for the younger kids, and Ah was handing out candy at the door of my classroom, like everyone else was. Jubilee snapped that picture when Ah wasn't looking; in fact she took most of these and gave them to me later. She had barely stepped around the corner with her group of kids from the daycare, and Ah had barely stepped inside when my water broke."

She grinned at the memory. "Jean heard me hollering, and came running, and helped me to the Med Lab just as my real contractions started, 26 hours later Trey showed up, howling to beat the band."

He reached out and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face with a gloved hand. "God, Rogue," he said, surprised to hear he himself choked up. "Remy's sorry he wasn't hear, to be with you, to help you."

She smiled sadly. "It's alright Cajun, you couldn't have known, and at the time Ah was pretty knarly to be around."

Remy smiled as he looked at the photos again, not surprised to see the sadness in her eyes was there as well.

He was going to do everything in his power to make sure that sadness never returned to her again, if it killed him the process, he promised himself that at that moment and it was a promise he'd never let down, not again, not for her.

Rogue leaned against him, as she began to fit photos into one of the albums and he wrapped his arms around her. " So,", he said as he looked down at her with a Rajun Cajun grin. "Have you ever thought of giving Trey a brother or sister,? cause Remy's up for the challenge if you are."

Rogue's response was to gasp and  clap a hand over her mouth, with one hand while pushing him away with the other, as she made a mad berserker beeline, off the bed and for the bathroom, slamming the door behind her as she went. Remy winced as he heard her losing her lunch, and from the sound of it, every lunch and meal she'd eaten in the last year. " Remy takes dat as a no?", he said as he went over to the closed door and knocked lightly. After a moment, he got no response, so he knocked again harder. " Ya alright?", he said, feeling déjà vu from the day before, all over gain.

" Ah'm okay", Rogue said as she emerged. "Just Ah little queasy, is all"

" Well," Remy said as he helped her back to bed. " Ah've had women react strongly to a come on, but dat had to be the strongest reaction Remy'd ever had thrown at him.", He raised an eyebrow at her and smiled rakishly . " If Remy says the word Commitment, you ain't gonna go Linda Blair on him are you, cause ah don't think even my stomach can handle pea soup all over da place."

Rogue's response was to whip a pillow at his head, which he promptly caught and whipped back at her. "Guess not," he said as he approached the bed. "Dat a good sign or a bad one?"

Rogue winced with a tired smile as she settled back into bed. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts."

"Sorry", he said as he lay down beside her and absently began massaging her stomach through the blanket.

"Remy," she said gently, after a moment as she covered his hand with hers. "Is that what you thought yesterday when you heard Ah was sick, that Ah was pregnant?"

Remy looked down, looking for all his age as vulnerable as Trey, until she reached out and tipped his chin towards her. "Maybe," he said softly.

" Oh_, Honey_,", she said sympathetically " If Ah was Ah would have told you right away, Ah wouldn't have let something like that go _again._" She smiled and stroked his cheek as he turned his face into her palm.

"It's just Remy missed everything with Trey", he said "I thought maybe I was getting the chance to make up for it.", he looked at her sideways. "To build up our trust again."

"Remy," she said, wishing he hadn't brought the touchy subject up again. "Ah trust you, Ah trust with my life _and _Ah trust you with Trey."

He smiled sadly clearly not believing her but more then willing to listen to her as she said it. "It's alright", he said not letting her see how much it bothered him. He motioned to her empty juice glass. "You're out," he said indicating with his hand. "Remy'll go and get you some more."

Before she could speak, he'd kissed her temple and after grabbing the glass from the night stand, fled the room as she flopped back down against her pillows, wondering when her life had gotten so complicated and how she could fix the mess she was in.

Down stairs, Scott was making lunch for himself and Jean while she fed Livvy and Nate when Remy came in, heading straight for the fridge and the orange juice it held. "Hey", Jean said by way of greet as she rapidly spooned baby food into Livvy's mouth before the child had the time or energy to realize she could spit it back out again. "How's Rogue feeling?"

"Better", he said dully as he set the glass on the counter and poured juice into it. "She's slowly getting back to her old self."

Jean nodded and grinned at the baby as she wiped her face with her bib. "I'll check in on her later, how Trey is doing, he's not picked up any of the symptoms has he?"

"No" Remy said "He's with Jubilee, seems fine, although I can tell he's worried about his mother."

Jean nodded again and cocked her head at him. "Is something wrong?"

Remy winced and then sighed, needing to get it off of his chest, knowing Rogue wouldn't mind if it was Jean and Scott he talked too. "It's just", he said, leaning against the counter. "Remy and de _Belle Petite_, are having a minor disagreement."

"About what?" Scott asked, nudging Nate's sandwich towards him with a raised eyebrow from under his glasses.

"She don't trust me none," he said bluntly. "At least not with da boy, and definitely not to not break her heart again." He shook his head frustrated, as he sighed. "Remy don't get it, Red, she just won't give it up, despite everything we've done, all the progress we've made since I got back that fear is still there."

"And it may always be to some degree", Jean said honestly.

"Oh thanks," Remy said bitterly "That helps."

"_Remy_", Jean said, motioning for him to have a seat. "Let me tell you something, okay?"

"Alright". He said sitting down beside Scott and smiling at Livvy.

"When you left", she said, "Rogue, just _stopped_. It was like something shut off inside of her or died something, she was fully prepared to never have again. She just shut herself off from everybody, she lost weight, became pale and sickly." Jean sighed, wondering if she was the one who should be telling him this. "She cried herself to sleep every night; Scott and I could hear her from down the hall so she didn't get any sleep ether."

"Why didn't you do something?" he asked.

"We did." Scott put in as he took a bite of his tuna sandwich. "Everyone did, Jean, me, Jubilee, Wolverine even the Professor but she wouldn't listen."

"She stopped eating", Jean said "She didn't exercise right, she didn't socialize anymore. She almost let herself die, Remy, if it hadn't been for Trey, I think she would have, it was devastating for her." She sighed "I could show you pictures of then, she's so thin and wraith like, it's scary."

"Remy's seen them," he said quietly "This morning in fact."

"What happened with Trey?" he asked, letting everything sink in. The Rogue he'd known would never have been like that, it was a shock to hear she could be that despondent.

"She almost lost him." Scott said "She collapsed at a staff meeting, if the Med lab hadn't been so close she could have died, both of them could have. Jean was barely able to stop the bleeding but she did, everything changed after that."

"It seemed to snap her out of it.", Jean finished" She started eating, taking better care of herself," She shook her head. "Not personal offense, but I can understand why she'd be leering of trusting all over again, she's protecting herself from having to go through that again." She smiled. "She loves you Remy, you just have to give her the time she needs to show it."

Remy nodded.  "Remy knows, it just ain't easy that's all."

"It never is", Jean said "Love wouldn't be worth it if it was."

She rose gracefully, lifting the now drowsy baby out of her highchair and setting her against her shoulder as she kissed Scott on the top of his head, then Nate, and left the room without a word.

Remy looked at Scott, envious of his team leader for the moment.  "Like Remy said once before, you're a lucky man summers."

"I know it.", Scott said as he washed Nate's face. "But so are you."

"Yeah.", Remy said as he moved to return to his rooms. "Remy knows, he just wishes he knew Rogue felt the same."

Later that evening, Rogue sat up in bed, sorting through the last of her papers, her mood considerable better then it had been earlier as she'd finally come up with an idea of how she could prove her trust in Remy. It was going to be nerve racking, but she knew it was something she'd have to get used too if things were going to work out.

She leaned back against her pillows with a sigh, Trey was in the living room watching cartoons, and she'd threatened and bullied Remy into going to play poker with Cyclops, Sam and Logan and a few others. Remy'd protested and sputtered right up until the moment she'd sent him out the door, not letting on just how lousy she felt or how much her chest hurt when she coughed.

Rogue coughed into her hand, deciding what she needed was a cup of coffee, and rose to get it, gripping the bed post as a wave of dizziness over came her. She reached out to steady herself, (wondering when she'd gotten so bad, considering she'd felt better earlier, then the day before) as she moved down the hall towards the living room. She sucked in a breath, wincing as fire spread through her chest. Alarm bells began to ring in her head as she wheezed out another breath, something wasn't right, she'd had no trouble breathing when she'd had the flu before.

She pulled her robe tighter around herself as she entered the living room, smiling weakly as she saw Trey was playing at the coffee table. "Hey baby," she said as she moved slowly to the couch. "What'cha doing?"

"Playing.", he said, as if it was a stupid question. He looked at her questioningly and for the first time she noticed he was playing with a deck of cards. "Did you know a full house is better then a straight flush?"

Rogue winced, giving up, the child was going to be card shark just like his daddy, and it was becoming more and more apparent. She grimaced as she tried to breathe again, and was cut off by a coughing fit that nearly killed her with a raw blazing pain. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, as Trey watched, clearly worried, and tried to bring it under control. She felt tears spring to her eyes as the pain worsened, and this time didn't receded like it had before. As the coughing stopped and she pulled her hand away from her mouth, she was shocked to see a small reddish streak of blood on her hand. She started at it in alarm, having trouble catching her breath as she spoke and tried to stay calm. "Trey", she said breathlessly as she sunk back onto the couch. "Papa's down stairs in the big media room, by the daycare, can you go and get him for me, Sugah? Tell him Mama needs him right away, okay?"

Trey looked at her bewildered at her obviously hurried request then turned and bolted from the room. Rogue heard the front door open and close as her vision began to swim, and she struggled to take a normal breath. "_Jean"_, she thought frantically, panicking, as she struggled to breathe hoping Jean or the Professor would pick up on her thoughts. _"Ah need your help!!!"_

Downstairs, despite the fact he was only half paying attention, Remy was rapidly cleaning out Scott, Jubilee, Kitty, and Sam while contemplating how he could take down the Wolverine (Who was almost as good a poker player as he was, _almost_). He glanced at his cards, suppressing a smile that would have ruined his game, saw he had a _very_ good hand, and tossed a few more chips in the pot without a word as he saw Scott's bet and raised it.

 "Ah'm out", Sam said with a sigh as he tossed his cards down and leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his beer.

"So am I", Jubilee said with a sigh as she tossed the cards on the table.

Logan smiled around his cigar, a smile that sent a shiver up Remy's back, and left him wondering what he was holding for cards, and tossed the required chips into the pot. "I'll see that and raise you a hundred." he said calmly.

Remy raised an eyebrow, and was about to call him on his cards when Scott nudged him with an elbow, and motioned him to look over his shoulder towards the media room doorway. He turned in his seat, surprised to find Trey standing in the doorway in his pajamas, looking around nervously. Remy frowned at his son, knowing he should have been asleep by now and instantly wondered what was wrong. "Trey, what's the matter?" he said as Trey bolted to his father's side. "Does your mama know you're down here?"

"Uh huh" Trey said as the others watched, clearly scared and out of breath. "She sent me to get you; she says she needs you right away."

Remy jumped up, his cards instantly forgotten as he registered the panicked tone in his son's voice and knew something was really wrong. He headed for the door then turned back to his son, as the others looked on. "Stay here," he told Trey settling him in his seat and kissed the top of his head. "Papa will be back soon. Watch him", he said to Scott, who nodded at Remy's retreating back. "And for god's sakes, Logan, don't teach him to bet, Rogue'll have my ass on a platter!"

He ran down the corridor and up the stairs, not surprised at all to meet Jean half way and they took the steps two at a time as they hurried up to the apartments on the second level. Silently they went down the hallway until they reached the apartment then Remy burst ahead and inside head of Jean. Remy bolted for the living room as Jean came in, finding Rogue crumpled beside the couch and tossing an anguished look at Jean as he dropped down beside her and felt for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found one, thin and thready but stable. As if on cue Rogue moaned, low and weak, but it was a sign she was alive and it was all Remy could have asked for.

"Her colorings not good", Jean said as she moved beside him (The blue tint to Rogue's lips worrying her more then anything else) and brushed a gloved hand over Rogue's brow. "And she's burning up!" She opened her mouth to say they needed to get her to the lab but Remy had already lifted her carefully into his arms and was heading for the door. Jean followed quickly, anxious to figure out what was wrong with her friend.

An hour later Remy stood with Scott and Kitty, numbly waiting to find out what was going on inside the Med Lab with his _Cherie. _Jean had asked him to wait outside while she and beast worked on her. He didn't think he'd ever get over seeing her lying there so pale and lifeless, not like when she'd fainted before, but deadly still and hot, because of the extremely high fever she was running. He didn't want to think what could be happening to her in that room, it scared him so much, and it was over powering.

Seeing the anguish that his friend was going through, Scott clapped him on the shoulder reassuringly. "She'll be fine," he said confidently. "Jean and Hank know what their doing, if they can help her then they'll do so to the best of their abilities." Remy nodded but Scott knew it was like the preverbal teardrop in the ocean for all Remy was hearing him.

The door to the exam room opened and Jean came hurrying out, dressing her scrubs and a lab coat, she looked tired and defeated and for a moment Remy feared the worst. She approached them stoically as she pulled off her gloves and disposed of them.

 "Well" Remy said his heart in his throat. "What happened? Come on, Red, help me out here"

"Pneumonia happened", Jean said "The influenza turned into Viral Pneumonia and a wicked case at that. The worst I've ever seen, it started to shut her lungs down, that's why she collapsed like she did, and that's the reason for the high fever."

"Is that common?" Remy asked hoarsely. "For the flu to turn to this?"

"More then you'd think?" Jean said "Especially when the body it's invading is over stressed and over worked like Rogue's is."

"Is she going to be okay?" Scott asked before Remy could.

"Hank and I think so", Jean said "But it's hard to say, we sedated her to help her breath easier, and started antibiotics, we've got her on oxygen as well. It's the fever that's worrisome, it's still rising, and that could present a problem. ", Jean smiled at Remy. " If she can get through tonight alright, then she should be fin though."

"Couldn't you get Logan to transfer some of his healing energy?" Scott asked,

"He's sick too." Jean said " It wouldn't do a lick of good."

"Can I see her?' He asked, feeling déjà vu all over again, he'd been spending far too much time in the mansions medical lab in the last few days as far as he was concerned.  

Jean nodded as she took her lab coat off.  "Go ahead."

Remy turned and hurried inside; alarmed to see Rogue wearing an oxygen mask but knowing it was helping her bring her oxygen levels back up. He settled down besides her, feeling the heat coming from her body, and took her gloved hand in his. "You know." he said to her inert form. "You've gotta stop doing this girl, your gonna make Remy old before his time." 

He got no response and he hadn't expected too, the only sound in the room was the hiss of the oxygen tank and the rasp of her steady breathing, something that to him sounded as good as the best New Orleans's jazz on a hot summer day.  

Remy wasn't aware of when he drifted off, only when he awoke to Storm settling a blanket around him. "How's she doing?" he asked sitting forward with a yawn.

"Better", Strom said "She's breathing easier."

"Good.", he said as he scratched the back of his neck.

"How are you holding up?" Strom asked quietly.

"Been better", he said brokenly as he looked at the women he loved in the hospital bed. "Remy's just worried is all."

"Of course." Storm said.

"God knows." he said "Remy'd breath for her if he could."

"I know", Strom said comfortingly "And she does too."

He nodded "It's just; I can't picture my life without her. You know, Remy can protect her from Sentinels, and Magneto and anti-mutent groupies. I can watch her back in training and when we fight but I can't protect her from this, something in her own body and it's scaring the hell out of me that I can't Stormy."

Storm nodded, "I know Remy but she's a fighter in herself, she'll pull through, you just have to wait and see."

With that she turned and left the room, leaving Remy alone again with his thought. He hated the fact he felt so helpless to help her, it was tearing him up inside and yet he knew there was nothing he could do but wait and hope she was okay.

She would be okay; he refused to believe anything else.

Because he didn't think he could survive without her if she wasn't.

To be continued…


	6. A Simple Plan

V

"Good morning _Petite_."

"Go away."

"Drink your orange juice."

"Bite me Cajun."

"_That_'s my girl _._

Remy smiled as he set the breakfast tray down on the table beside the bed and offered Rogue the glass again. "Come on", he said as he brandished the glass closer to her like she would have done for Trey. "Jean says you need to keep up your strength and this'll help."

"So would arsenic." Rogue growled as she grudgingly accepted the glass.

"Feeling better huh?" he said as he dropped down beside her.

"No", she said as she eyed the juice in the glass reluctantly. "Why?"

"Because you must be to make comments like that." he said as he moved the food tray to rest on her lap. He smiled as he motioned to the bacon, toast and oatmeal on the try. "Eat up."

Rogue shook her head and Remy sighed inwardly, wondering when his girlfriend had descended back into moody teenager mode and then called on all the patience he had as he lifted the spoon from the cereal. "I'm serious Rogue, you need to eat."

"I'm not hungry." she said stubbornly as she picked at the sleeve of her silk pajamas.

"Yes you are," he said "Because you didn't eat dinner last night, and you barely touched lunch yesterday." He rolled his eyes as he spoke. "Look, _chere_, you never gonna get better if don't eat something."

The morning interlude had been almost identical for every day of the four days that Rogue had been at home "recovering" in bed from her bout with the viral pneumonia that had nearly killed her. She'd spent a week and a half in Med Lab ( that Remy was sure was responsible for more then a few grey hairs in his case) as her body fought off the infection in her lungs, and Jean had ordered at another week at home to make sure that it had completely left her system. Remy was sure that was only because Rogue was driving Jean and Beast crazy being in the med lab all day, under foot even when she was supposed to be resting.

Rogue was not pleased at this prospect and she made sure to let both Jean and Remy know it, both vocally and physically as she absolutely refused to actually stay put in bed for any given length of time. More then once Remy had carried her back to bed after finding her up and around the house and the Mansion and Scott had done the same at Jean's request. Rogue had protested saying she felt like a damned prisoner but Jean was adamant about her following Doctor's orders this time.

After that evening in the lab, listening to her rant and rave in the mist of her fever, Remy had rarely left her side except to be with Trey. He'd never been so relived as when the fever had broken early the afternoon and he'd known she was going to be okay, even if it was going to a slow rode of recovery. He'd made a resolve not to fight with her or argue if it could be avoided if she'd just get better.

He was close to breaking his promise at the moment.

"Stop being so damn stubborn", he cried. "And eat, girl, it's for your own good."

He dropped the spoon and ran a hand through his hair before an idea struck him. He picked up the spoon from the cereal and waved it at her. "If you don't eat in five minutes, I'll just have to start feeding you."

She gave him a dirty look as he pressed the spoon to her lips a few moments later. "Remy means it sweetheart; don't think I won't try it." He shot her his own look back and without a word, knowing he did in fact mean it; she picked up the spoon and began eating wordlessly.

Remy smiled again and settled back to watch her as she dug in, mentally watching the time until he had to wake Trey up for daycare. "Was that so hard?" he asked as she ate.

She shot him another look, one that clearly and creatively stated where he could stick the spoon she was holding with all the venom of a butcher's knife and popped a piece of bacon in her mouth as she spoke civilly to him for the first time that day. " So what's going on with the team, anything new with Magneto?"

Remy shook his head." Not really, nothing you should worry about ."

Rogue studied him for a moment then went back to finishing her meal, realizing that since her nausea was gone, she actually _was_ hungry. She'd soon plowed her way through the food on the plate and Remy quickly removed it, as he lounged beside her. After a moment he smoothed her hair back, and studied her for a moment. " How do you feel?", he asked, and then before she could respond to his question. " Really?"

" Tired.", she admitted as she leaned her head against his chest" And weak at times."

" Which is why you need to rest,", he said kissing her temple through her hair lightly. " And stay in bed."

" Ahright,", she said as she sat up. " But Ah'm gonna take a shower or at least a bath, just because Ah'm in bed doesn't mean Ah have to smell like one."

He laughed, and shook his head, " Alright, if you say so."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud thump and a thin wail, signifying that Trey had woken up and as usual rolled out of bed onto the floor. Both Rogue and Gambit winced as he rose to his feet. " Remy'll get him", he said as he kissed the top of her head and headed out the door.

He crossed the hall and entered Trey's room, not surprised to find him still tangled in the blankets on the floor. With a suppressed laugh, he squatted down and removed his son quickly, setting him on the bed in his pajamas as he tossed the blankets back where they belonged. " There", he said as he tousled his son's hair. " Papa's tamed the bed monster for yet another day." He smiled at Trey, waiting for the normal laugh that, that always brought, but wasn't reassured as his son didn't smiled back, only stomped out of the room and headed for the kitchen. Remy sighed as he followed him.

It was going to be one of those days.

He could feel it in his bones.

As he entered the kitchen, he was met with the sight of Trey sitting at the kitchen table while _Rogue_ bustled around the kitchen, getting him a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice. Well, she was trying to bustle at least, but she didn't quite have the strength, so it was more like a slow crawl with actions.

For a moment Remy started transfixed and more then a little bewildered. Rogue smiled at him guilty as she set Trey's juice in front of him. "How the hell did you get by Remy?" he asked, amazed, as he moved to her side.

" You were distracted,", she said innocently.

" You need to rest", he said leading her to the couch.

" Ah _need _to stay busy", she said.

" I _need _milk", Trey piped up from the table.

"I _need _a vodka on the rocks", Remy muttered as he went into the kitchen to get the milk.

He looked over his shoulder at Rogue. "Stay put." he ordered and he could see she was incensed by the command but she was already too fatigued to answer. Remy shook his head; he'd lay ten to one odds that she'd be asleep on the couch by the time he had to take Trey down to Jubilee.

After Trey had finished his meal, Remy led him off to his room to get dressed for the day while Rogue dozed on the couch as Remy had predicted she would.

"Here we go", he said as he pulled a black t-shirt out of Trey's drawer and a pair of jeans. "This'll do for today, ya?"

Trey looked at him skeptically as he crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "Black _is _so _not_ my color, Papa." He said after a moment as he stared Remy down like he'd been doing it his entire life.

Remy studied his son for a moment, eyebrows raised as he tossed the shirt on the bed. "Aunt Jubilee's been letting you watch dat_ 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'_ again hasn't she?"

Trey didn't say a word, and Remy began to think he was going to have to have a frank talk with Jubes about what the boy was watching with her when she baby sat. He smiled at Trey and picked up the shirt in his hand. "It's a perfectly good shirt Trey, let Papa help you put it on, so we can get going."

Trey shook his head. "Nope"

"Trey", Remy said warningly. He'd never had to raise him voice to him yet and he didn't want to have to start now, but he was in no mood to dawdle around when they were already late. "We have to get going, we're already late and you don't want to miss anything Jubilee is teaching do you?"

Trey looked at him skeptically and Remy felt a headache start to come on." Come on now", he said sternly. "Don't make me ask you again"

Grudgingly, Trey let himself be dressed in the shirt and jeans (Much to Remy's relief) and ten minutes later, after making sure Rogue was comfortable on the sofa, they headed out the door and down the hall to the day care. As they reached the room, to his surprise it was empty. "That's strange." he said as he checked out the room. 'Wonder where everyone is?"

"Sick", Jean said as she came up behind him and posted a sign at the door. "Or at least Jubilee is, with the same flu Rogue had." She smiled at Trey and he smiled back to Remy's relief again. "The day care is close until further notice."

"What about training?" Remy asked as he picked Trey up and settled him in his arms.

"Canceled", Jean said "Scott's not feeling to well ether,"

"Are we the only one's well?" he asked with a shake of his head.

"No", Jean said "Storm's fine, so are Cannonball and Kitty."

She cocked her head. "How's Rogue this morning?"

"Stubborn as a mule." he said "And cursing my name religiously for forcing her to stay in bed."

"In other words: Feeling much better and on the road to a full recovery", Jean said.

"Pretty much." Remy said with a roll of his eyes.

Jean smiled, "I'm going to check her in a little while, so I guess, I'll find out for myself then." She sighed before speaking again. "On another topic, there is grocery shopping that needs to be done for both the students and the team, and it was Rogue's turn to do it," She looked at the floor for a moment. "I was wondering if you could do it since she can't."

She could see his reluctance and moved quickly to assuage it. "I'll stay with Rogue, it's just we need things like aspirin and toilet paper, _really, really_ badly." She smiled as she juggled Livvy on her hip. "I wouldn't be asking except, we in dire straights. I can't go because I need to watch the kids and Storm's on a field's trip in New York with her science group, and most of the kids old enough to help are with her. I could call and get them to deliver but then we really can't be sure to get what each students needs"

"Trey and I can go." Remy said nonchalantly.

"Uh", Jean said, a little dismayed. "Why don't I watch Trey and you go? Since I've got Livvy and Nate, it wouldn't be a big hassle for me to take him"

"You've got enough on your plate", he said as he tapped Livvy on the end of her button nose and she laughed, making a grab for his finger. "Besides, we're LeBeau men, we're tough, we're Cajuns, a little grocery shopping ain't nothing for us to handle", He looked down at Trey, "Right?"

"Right.", Trey said with a devious smile that Remy didn't see.

"Alright.", Jean said as she handed him a list the size of his arm and he groaned inwardly. "If you say so." She handed him a credit card, turned to go, heading in the direction of her rooms and he knew she was having some sort of mental conversation with Scott as she did, "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," Remy said as he watched her go. He turned to Trey, and adjusted him on his arm. "Come on, _Mon Petite Homme_; let's go tell your Mama we have some errands to run. "

As they entered the garage a few moments later, Remy had to admit Rogue had been cool about the fact he was taking the boy out for the day on his own, despite everything that had been said in the last weeks and the fact the issue of trust was still looming over their heads like the Sword of Damocles.. He twirled the keys to the SUV on his finger as they approached it and unlocked the doors. Once unlocked Remy quickly settled Trey in his car seat and then slid in himself, quickly starting the car and pulling out of the garage before someone else gave him a list of items to pick up.

Keeping his eyes on the road as he reached the highway, Remy fumbled for a CD in the driver's side compartment and grabbed the first one he came into contact with. He slipped it into the CD player and waited for the familiar beat of Rogue's favorite rock music to assault his ears, instead however he was greeted with a childish voice belting out the lyrics to _The Wheels on the Bus_ in a cutesy tone that immediately caused his teeth to ache it was so sweet. Approaching a red light, Remy chanced a glance at the CD cover he'd tossed on the passenger seat. _"The Wiggles Sing the Classics_", he said out loud through gritted teeth. He glanced in the rearview mirror at Trey. "One of yours, huh?"

Trey nodded happily as he bobbed his head to the music.

"You must get your musical taste from your mother," he said with a sigh as he drove on. "Because you sure didn't get it from me,"

Meanwhile back at the Mansion, Rogue was lying in bed when she heard a knock at the apartment door. "Come in", she called and wasn't surprised when Jean entered the bed room a moment later. "Hey, how's it going?"

"I'm, supposed to ask you that", Jean said with a laugh. "How are you feeling today?"

"Tired but better", Rogue said as Jean sat down beside her on the bed.

"And on your own I noticed" Jean observed as she looked around the silent room.

"Yeah", Rogue said "Remy took Trey out."

"To get groceries, I know I asked him to go, because no one else could." Jean said.

"Wait." Rogue said holding up a hand. "Shopping? As in shopping in a mall, shopping?"

"Yeah", Jean said innocently.

"Oh _Jean_", She said with a laugh and a shake of her head. "That's a mean thing to do and you know it."

Jean smiled and raised an eyebrow silently as she continued Rogue's examination. "What?"

"What?" Rogue said "_What?_ Even _Ah_ never take Trey shopping, Sugah, it's like getting between Jubilee and a poster of Orlando Bloom, you won't get out alive or at least without missing a limb." She shook her head. "He'll eat Remy alive

, "I don't envy him." Jean said, with a small smile, knowing perfectly well what it was like to take Rogue's son into a mall . It had taken three weeks to get rid of the nightmares the last time she'd done it.

"And what do you mean, no one else could go?" Rogue said "You've taken the kids grocery shopping on your own, lots of times when Scott was away. Livvy and Nate are angelic in stores, mostly thanks to Scott's rules."

"I know." Jean said as she listened to Rogue's breathing. "But Remy doesn't, now does he?" She grinned. "I told him Scott wasn't feeling well, and that I didn't want to leave him for a moment."

"Scott's in Aruba isn't he?" Rogue said "Grabbing a new mutant with Logan?" She looked over her shoulder out the apartments, bay window. "I saw the jet leave a little while ago."

"Again I state, Remy didn't know this." Jean said "I conveniently left that out, when I talked to him. I offered to watch Trey, but he wouldn't hear anything of it. Oh well…"

"You're cruel." Rogue said with a grin. "But ya know what? You're _my _kind of cruel." Still she winced as she wondered if she'd have a boyfriend left when the day was done or if he'd have run back to New Orleans as fast as his legs could carry him. "Ah hope their alright."

Remy pulled into the mall parking lot, thankful that the CD from hell had stopped running a track earlier. He glanced at Trey, "We're heading straight for tha grocery store," he informed him. "Cause Papa don't want to be here all day, he wants to get back to Mama as fast as possible."

Trey didn't say a word as Remy stopped the car and hopping out, moved to the back and unstrapped his son and settled him on his arm as he walked into the mall complex and turned towards the grocery store he knew the school used.

Trey squirmed in his arms and pointed at a store window that boasted a colorful assortment of. "Papa, look _toys_"

"Now", Remy said "Papa told you, we're heading straight for da grocery store, not da toy store." He briefly consisted indulging Trey, he'd rarely got the chance to buy him anything in the time he'd been home but he quickly put the thought on the back burner, at least for the moment until the grocery shopping was done.

His son apparently had _other _ideas.

Trey's eyes narrowed, he opened his mouth, let out a yell and thus began _the day from hell._

By the time they had reached the grocery store, Remy's ears were ringing and Trey was clutching a stuffed, _something_ from the toy store. Remy wasn't sure what exactly it was, ether a grasshopper or a dragon or the goddamn _ugliest _Teddy Bear dressed in drag, he'd ever seen but it was the one that had caused Trey to stop screaming like Siryn and calm down enough so Remy could get them to the grocery store without people staring at them. Not that he cared really, if they did. He knew he shouldn't have caved in and bought the toy, especially not with the boy screaming the way he was, that he should have been stern and chastised him, but he'd been so shocked to hear that much noise coming from such a small person, (and one that was normally so quiet and laid back as well,) that he'd bought it without even thinking twice.

He settled Trey in a cart, wiping the tears off of his cheeks as he did so, and pulled out the list Red had given him, she'd conveniently (Or neurotically, take your pick) organized the list into categories like meat or vegetables or toiletries so he could get all the thing he needed from one place at one time, without having to return to any isles to pick stray items up. "Thank you Red," he murmured as he headed for the fruit and Vegetable isle. He glanced at the list, relived to find it was mostly toiletries like shampoo and was even more relived when he realized that he could order the foods that the school needed, like meat and vegetables and dairy items, and have them delivered by the afternoon.

He placed the order at the order counter, and then decided to pick up the rest of the order himself, having offloaded a good portion of it onto the clueless and dismayed clerk,( Which made Remy feel a bit better, to be honest) and then steered the cart towards his intended isle.

"There", he said to Trey, "Now all we got to get is junk food and toiletries, for da most part."

Trey didn't say anything, just looked around curiously as if he was taking everything in and absorbing it to his memory. He clutched his stuffed animal closer and yawned, and Remy began to wonder if he'd make the trip awake or asleep. He steered them down the isle with the shampoo, grabbing the bottles off the list as he saw them and making sure to get as many as cited, not noticing all the while he was stacking shampoo in the cart, Trey was taking it out and placing it back on the shelf. He was happily amusing himself with peeling the labels off of the bottles, or placing them when he could reach back in their places or in random spots like other people's waiting carts.

Remy for his part was clueless because when he turned around, Trey would sit back innocently and clutch his toy as he watched his father work. This was the most fun he'd had since the time he'd hidden his mother's gloves just before she'd had to go a big meeting. As Remy placed another bottle in the cart, and turned away, Trey took it out again quickly as he began to bore and set it back on the shelf among the others.

Finally Remy turned around for the last time, a bottle of mango peach conditioner in his hands, and actually looked at the cart, finding it mostly empty. His gazed flashed up to his son, who smiled at him and giggled softly and Remy was glad no one else was in the isle because the bottle he held in his hand, charged bright pink for a moment as his anger level rose. He quickly pulled his powers in check and set the bottle of conditioner in the cart.

"So you think dat's funny huh?" he said mildly, watching as Trey nodded. "Right, you would being, Rogue's son. Don't do it again, okay?" Trey nodded meekly and Remy quickly went about re-filling the cart with the shampoos and conditioners before he moved on to getting soap and toilet paper.

He checked the list and groaned as he saw the next item. In Remy LeBeau's opinion, the isle containing sanitary supplies should have been off limits for men, he hated venturing down it, (Not that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do or buy for his _chere_, when she needed him) and he vowed to get that done quickly so he could move on to junk food.

As Remy moved down the isle, and began to quickly get what they needed, Trey decided to change tactics, and began to randomly toss items in the cart. "Trey", Remy said as he fished a package of Depends out of the cart, quickly catching the package of panty hose, his son tossed next and setting them back in their place. "Papa told you not to do dat."

"No", Trey said "You said, no take out of da cart, never said anything about putting stuff in." As he spoke he knocked a box of tampons into the cart with a dimpled fist then grabbed a random item and tossed it in.

Remy muttered an oath in French, as he scooped a yeast infection cure, kit out of the cart next, followed by another package of Depends and several boxes of super absorbency tampons as Trey continued to dump them in at a rapid pace. Trey was obviously having the time of his life as he watched his father scrambled to pull things out of the cart as he tossed them in. Finally Remy had had enough," Don't put things in da cart!" he boomed, in a loud stern voice that even surprised him.

Trey looked at him in surprise, having never heard his father raise his voice before, and then began to cry loudly as other people began to look at them in curiosity. Remy, cursing in French, began to head them towards the pharmacy and the aspirin that was there and conveniently the next item on their list of things to get.

The Ragen Cajun was getting a ragen migraine.

A few moments later, and with several large bottles of extra strength aspirin in tow, Remy began to steer them down the junk food isle, vowing to never say Rogue had it easy when she shopped with Trey again. In fact, he suddenly felt like going home and giving her a kiss out of sympathy that she'd had to do it at all. He glanced down at Trey, (grateful he'd stopped crying at last, and equally more grateful that it was the last isle they had to go through before they went to the cashier,) and hurried down the isle, grabbing chips, of varying types, as well as other sweets like chocolate that he knew the students had asked for.

Remy stopped the cart, and checked the list, grabbing a few more varieties of chips, that were on the list as well as several cases of Coke before heading over to the candy section to get the few remaining items. With a sigh of relief as he dropped a package of Oreo's in the cart, he started to push the cart towards the cash, and then realized that he hadn't heard a peep out of Trey in the ten minutes they'd been in the isle.

He looked over at his son, expecting to find him asleep; only to see Trey had turned the cart basket into his own personal feast. He had plowed his way through half a large chocolate bar, (the rest of which rested in the arms of Tito the Cross-Dressing Teddy Bear,) part of a package of sugar covered doughnuts, a bag of Jujubes and was currently mowing his way through a package of mini-marshmallows in various pastel colors. Remy's jaw dropped, and he glanced over his sun glasses in shock, as Trey smiled a sugary demonic smile at him and silently extended the half empty bag in offering.

Remy hung his head, as he headed for the cash, knowing that he could be the best card shark in the world and yet for all his luck at the cards, he'd been beaten hands down that day by his three year old toddler.

He slid in the car a few moments later; feeling frustrated and spent, and leaned his head against the steering wheel briefly. Trey, for all his part, was sitting in his car seat, clutching his toy panda bear to his chest as he leaned back in his car seat and yawned around a smile. Remy smile back at him, but it was quickly gone.

_Panda Bear?_

Remy glanced over his shoulder and spotted the Tito, the Gender Mystified Bear, resting on the seat beside Trey, grinning happily. "Where did you?-", He started then stopped, vaguely remembering how he'd sped past the toy store to avoid a repeat performance of earlier and vaguely remembering seeing a display of similar toys hanging on a rack outside. He'd been so concerned with getting past he hadn't actually been watching what Trey was doing.

His son was a thief.

If Remy hadn't been at his wits end, he would have been proud.

He glanced in the rearview mirror in time to see what looked like a security guard and the toy shop keeper heading towards the car and sighed as he hit the gas and peeled out of the parking lot. Of all the people he'd ever expected to be a wheel man for Trey wasn't one of them.

After a quick stop at a local florist Remy knew Rogue liked, (where he picked her up four dozen of the most expensive roses he could find) they headed for home. "Never again," Remy muttered in French as the mansion same into view. "Not as long as Remy's sane."

A were waiting to meet him and few moments later, he'd parked and left the groceries to Storm while Jean silently took Trey for an hour, as Remy cast her the glance from hell. He marched down the hall; arms loaded with roses, feeling like he'd been run over by the Blackbird and to his surprise found Rogue waiting for him at their doorway.

Without a word she took the roses from him and pressed a double Vodka on the rocks into his hand with a smile as she went inside. He glanced down at the drink then bolted it back as he followed her in, watching as she set the roses in a large vase and then dropped on the couch, patting the spot beside her with a sympathetic glance.

Remy dropped down beside her, and for a moment rested his head on her shoulder, trying to recover without any lasting trauma then he turned, taking her hand in his gently as he looked at her. "_P'tite_, Remy has some thing bad to tell you."

"What?" She asked.

"Our son may, in fact, be the child of the dark minion, Satan." he said seriously, nodding his head as he spoke.

Rogue laughed, as she stroked his hair. "It was that bad huh?"

"Worse," he groaned. "Remy may never recover." He sat back and looked at her, noticing that she seemed to have more color in her cheeks then when he'd left that morning. "Speaking of, you look better _chere_, then when Remy left"

"Ah feel better," she said as she pushed her hair over her shoulder. "Not nearly as sick."

"Ah", he said as he tapped her on the end of the nose. "Dat means Logan's feeling better too, _non_?"

"True", Rogue said.

"And he gave a healing boost huh?" Remy said .

"Got it in one, Sugah", she said "Not enough to heal me completely, he's still too weak for that, but enough to make me feel a lot better." She leaned against him and yawned. "Ah'm still tired as the devil though."

"Trey, _Coeur_", Remy said mildly. "The devil's true name be Trey."

"_Remy_", she said playfully giving him a gentle swat. "Ya shouldn't say things like that Sugah." She yawned again, sagging back against the couch cushions limply, and he could see the fatigue seeping over like one of Ororo's waves of fog. Without even thinking Remy swept her up in his arms as she buried her face in his shoulder and carried her to their room. By the time he'd reached the bed, Rogue was already asleep and he settled her comfortable under the blankets before turning with a sigh, and heading off to Jean's and Scott's rooms to retrieve Trey for dinner.

" Here we go,", Remy said, a little while later as he set a plate of food in front of Trey. " Eat up," He had made Trey's favorite, grilled ham and cheese with extra cheese, and cucumber sticks then whipped up a spicy shrimp omelet for himself in record time. Since Rogue was out cold for the night and Remy wasn't going to wake her up for anything if she was finally sleeping easier, Remy'd opted for a private meal, just the two of them instead of eating in the dining room, he had a head ache and he suspected Trey was tired; he didn't want to really have to deal with the team tonight if possible. He forked a piece of shrimp as he spoke to Trey and watched, waiting for him to obey.

"No", Trey said definitely as he pushed his plate away.

"What?" Remy said as his head came up sharply.

"No", Trey said with a shake of his head. "Not hungry."

"Oh gods, it be inherited", Remy muttered as he thought of Rogue and her stubborn refusal to eat.

He scrutinized Trey for a moment and concluded Trey was just trying to test him and see what his response was. He still wasn't used to having Remy command him around and it was plain to see, especially at that moment that he didn't think Remy was going to take him to task. "Come on now", he said as he pushed the plate towards him, "Eat up, you've got to be hungry by now."

"No", Trey said again. "Don't like,"

"It be your favorite," Remy said as he poured him a glass of milk. "Papa knows because he asked your mama."

"Still not eating." Trey said happily as he pushed his sandwich around his plate with a chubby finger.

Remy sighed and then he remembered all the junk food Trey had wolfed down at the grocery store, and realized it was quite possible that Trey wasn't really hungry at all. He quickly dismissed the notion; knowing that with the mood Trey was in he could have been starving and he still wouldn't have eaten for Remy or probably for Rogue or Scott ether.

Hell, he probably wouldn't have eaten if Xavier himself told him too.

That wasn't going to stop Remy from trying though, he had to prove to himself that he could handle Trey and he had to prove to Trey that he was a force to be reckoned with, one he had to listen to when he was told. "Trey", he said calmly as he continued to eat his meal, "Papa told you to eat up, and that sandwich is going to get pretty nasty when it's cold, so he suggests you eat it now before it does."

"Not _hungry_," Trey said in a sing song voice, as he pushed the sandwich around. "Not _gonna _eat, can't _make_ me"

"Wanna bet?" Remy muttered in French as he took a sip of his coffee, if Trey thought his mother was stubborn he hadn't seen anything yet. He set the cup aside and eyed his son down for about the millionth time that day and wondered where his stubborn streak had come from. Remy rubbed his temples as his headache began to build and quickly rose to get some aspirin, praying it was just stress and not the flu like everyone else had.

He sat back down, and cast a red eye over his son's full plate, then decided to pull out the big guns. "Tremont," He said after a moment, "You're not leaving this table until you've cleaned your plate and Papa means, _clean,_ as everything is eaten."

Trey looked at him skeptically and crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly as he leaned back in his chair. "Papa's serious", Remy said as he pulled his cards out of his breast pocket and began to shuffle them. "We can sit here all night if we have to but nether of us is getting up from this table until it's eaten."

Trey cast him a dark look that in twenty years would have people running in the other direction and pushed the plate further away with a snort.

The stand off was on, but Remy wasn't worried, Trey'd get hungry soon and then things would resolve themselves. Hell, Remy'd even make him another sandwich if he wanted, instead of having him eat the cold hard one.

Piece of cake, nothing to it.

It'd be over before it really started.

Four hours, twenty six games of solitaire, ten cups of coffee and two ciggys later, Remy was tired, frustrated and still seated at the damned kitchen table, flipping cards as Trey stared stubbornly, albeit now _drowsily_, at the rock hard sandwich on his plate. Remy placed a red eight on a black nine and glanced at his cards pondering his options before taking his eyes off of the cards, and briefly glancing at his son. Trey stared back at him, clearly tired but also clearly unwilling to eat his dinner; despite the fact dinner had ended hours before and his bed time had also crept by the hour before.

Remy sighed, briefly wondering how much a healthy child would sell to the Peruvian circus market and set the cards aside as he leaned on the table and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look kid", he said desperately "Papa's sat in poker games, for _days_ on end to win a jackpot, with very little breaks, your not gonna win dis one. Why don't you just eat?"

Trey raised an eyebrow, and said with worldly expertise. "You can put the black Queen on the red King now, Papa."

Remy let his head drop to the table with a thump, his son was stubborn as stone but as an idea came to his mind he began to feel better, after all even stone could be broken eventually under the right conditions.

Rising, Remy went to the freezer and pulled, what he thought was a tub of chocolate peanut butter ice cream out with a flourish. He grabbed two spoons, and sat down again, popping the lid off easily as he dug in.

Now, Remy didn't particularly ever like ice cream, let alone peanut butter chocolate, (and coming from New Orleans, he could think of plenty of better desserts that one could eat and enjoy) but he figured Trey would and that all it would take for him to cave in and eat his dinner was the sight of his father happily, gagging down the dessert that he liked so much.

He watched as Trey looked at him in curiosity, and it was obvious to Remy now, the boy was hungry, he was just too damned stubborn and contrite to admit it and face down the truth when he needed too.

He was a LeBeau, alright.

Rapidly developing a brain freeze that would rival anything Bobby Drake could pull off at the best of times, (and wondering why anyone would actually pay to eat the sugary sickly sweet substance he was choking down) Remy smile and nodded to the container. "You could have some," he said, realizing with a miserable sinking feeling he was resorting to high class bribery to get his own child to eat. "If you eat your sandwich, or another one Papa makes you, your choice."

Trey looked at the ice cream, made a disgusted face and went right back to sitting at the table, looking bored and tired, not moving an inch. Remy, grimaced and considered waking _P'tite _up to help him corral the situation but then shot the idea out of his head, he was the boy's father, he should be able to handle him and she needed her rest badly if she was going to get better fast.

Plus if he woke her up, it would prove he couldn't get Trey to listen to him and that wasn't something Remy wanted to admit yet. Feeling more and more like a parenting failure, Remy spooned up another mouthful of ice cream and realized that an even more unforeseen and disastrous event had occurred.

He was starting to like the damned ice cream.

He quickly set the tub aside, closer to Trey and winced, as he inwardly sucked the coating off of his teeth, he had to put the stuff away and get a handle on things before the unforeseen happened and Rogue woke up, because if she did and found things they way that they were, Remy knew he was a dead man, and not in a good way.

It was out of his hands because his beloved, _did_ in fact choose that moment to emerge from the bed room, looking sleep rumpled, sweaty, and absolutely gorgeous in Remy's opinion as she surveyed the table. "What's going on? She said as she moved to his side. "Why isn't he in bed, Sugah?"

"Nothing much, nothing you need to worry about", he said "Trey and Remy are having a disagreement on dinner."

"What type of disagreement Sugah?" She said.

"He wouldn't eat," Remy said bluntly "So Remy said we weren't leaving the table until he did," He glanced at her looking for sympathy from the other parental unit of the house. "It was a good plan, Remy thought but four hours ago, now Remy's think it ain't going to work."

"Probably not," She said honestly.

"What do you mean,_' probably not'_," he said "A little support would be nice; Remy's trying to teach the boy a lesson _chere_."

"And a good lesson it might have been Sugah," she said gently as she indicated to their son. "Except for one thing."

"What?" Remy said as he pulled the ice cream closer again.

"He's asleep, sweetie. Oh, grilled ham and cheese my favorite." She said as she swiped part of the sandwich off of the plate and began to devour it. She patted his shoulder softly and Remy glanced over at Trey, his jaw dropping, as he realized she was right. Trey was sound asleep in his chair, snoring softly as he dropped off fully. It had only taken moments for him to drop off and Remy felt a pang of guilt that he hadn't put him to be when he was supposed too.

Rogue smiled at him as she picked up the rest of the sandwich, and headed back towards the bed room. "Better luck next time Cajun. You can put him to bed since you kept him up", she said as she moved down the hall and back to bed where she belonged. "Oh and Remy?"

"Yeah?" he called back around a large spoonful of ice cream. He winced figuring he was about to get holy hell for keeping Trey up late, and figured he deserved it on some level, he supposed.

"Why in the world are you eating my low fat, goat's milk and soy yogurt when there's premium vanilla in the freezer?"

Rogue had barely settled in bed, and gotten herself comfortable when Remy came in. "Da boy's abed for da night," He said as he stripped off his cloths, except for his boxers, just wanting to sleep and forget the day that had just happened. "And boy is he gonna eat in da morning."

"That's nice Sugah," She said with a yawn, "Your feedin him, since you were hell bent on starving him of his dinner."

"Remy wasn't hell bent" he said offended as he pulled back the covers and crawled in beside her. "Remy was jus trying to teach him a lesson, dat's all."

"And a fine lesson it was," she said wryly." It didn't seem to help you any."

"Remy's noticed", he said then sighed. "It just bothers me, dat's all. He don't seem to listen to me any _chere_, no matter what. It just fly's right by."

"He'll listen", she said as she rolled to face him, and ran her fingers through his hair. "It'll just take awhile, that's all Sugah," She smiled at him and leaned her head against his blanket covered chest. "Hell, he's three, almost four and he still don't listen half the time. He listens to Jean and Jubilee more them me half the time. Don' feel bad; just learn like Ah did, from everyone else around you."

He looked into her eyes, and without warning pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "What was that for?" she asked with a yawn. "Not that ya need a reason to kiss me or anythin."

"For being you," he said as he pulled her close. "And for always being able to make him feel better when Remy don't feel right, bout' somethin" He snuggled her closer. "I do love you girl, more then I can ever say in da words."

"And Ah love you, more then Ah ever thought Ah possibly could love some one", she said as he wrapped his arms around her, and the silence flowed over them like an Irish mist over the hills. The silence spoke words of its own as they lay there together, and it healed them both in ways they didn't even know it could.

After a moment thought Rogue spoke.

"Ketchup", she said softly in his ear.

" 'Cuse me ?" he said sleepily, having just started to drift off. " Dat some kind of new foreplay, cause as well as you are, Remy don't want to tire ya out…"

Rogue laughed softly and quickly kissed the corner of his mouth. "No, Cajun, it's not sexual, although with ya'll Ah don't doubt you couldn't find away to make it. Ketchup, as in the condiment, the kind you put on fries."

"What about it?", he as and then a horror dawned on him and she could see him pale. " Ya don't want me to take Trey back to da grocery store do ya, cause Remy think's dare may be a toy salesmen's with a grudge waiting with a steel baseball bat."

" No", she said with a soft laugh, " Listen, Trey tonight, that incident in the kitchen, you didn't give him any ketchup with his sandwich." She nodded as Remy caught on.

" And dat's what he wouldn't eat, because of a _damned_ condiment, dat was in da fridge all along?"

"Probably, he coats everything with it, most of the time" Rogue said, watching as Remy rolled over and groaned into his pillow. She laughed again and snuggled deeper in his arms. " Go to sleep sweetie, Ah promise, everything'll look better in tha morning."

Remy nodded and shut off the light, trying to let sleep claim him and Rogue had just about drifted off when she heard one word whimpered in the dark of the room, in a highly frazzled voice.

_"Ketchup?"_

"Rogue?" Remy called as he strode into the apartment a week and a half later, "You here _chere_?" He wanted to talk to her about the new team assignments Scott was dreaming up with Xavier, and with her health rapidly returning he figured it might be time to bite the bullet, and get everything on the table as far as they were concerned.

He glanced around the still apartment, wondering where she was, he hadn't seen her since their training session earlier that morning, her first since she'd gotten sick, but she'd disappeared after that and he hadn't seen her since, and it was going on noon. As if on cue she appeared, dressed in one of his shirts and a pair of faded jeans, slipping quietly from their bedroom, looking around as if she'd lost something, or was looking for something. "Dare ya are," he said as he moved towards her, his sense pricking as he saw how on guards she was. "What's wrong?"

She held up a finger to her lips, motioning for him to be quiet for the moment as she dropped into a fighting crouch, and visions of Magneto or Mystique began to run through his head. He watched, slipping his hand in his pocket for his cards as she began to circle the room, looking warily around as if she expected to be attacked at any moment by an unforeseen enemy.

Rogue was hunting something, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was.

Suddenly a giggle emerged from behind the couch, and a dark eyed little head popped up with a laugh, making dive for the hall way, that lay beyond Remy. Trey tried to make it to the safe spot but Rogue was quick on her feet and made a dive for him with a laugh, as he dove behind Remy's legs. She chased him in a circle around a clueless Remy, and then back into the living room, where she finally caught him and pulled him down in a mass of legs and arms. They were both laughing as he squirmed to get away and she started to tickle him, drawing more laughter from both of them.

Remy briefly wondered if he walked into the wrong house but as soon as Rogue had stopped what she was as doing and looked at him, from her place on the floor, with her arms wrapped around Trey, and her emerald eyes, smiling up at him from under her curly auburn hair as it fell into her eyes, and he knew he was home. "What in tha world are ya'll doing?" he asked as he pulled off his trench coat and tossed it in a nearby chair like he always did.

"Extreme hide and go seek", Rogue said as she looked down at Trey. "Right?"

"Right", Trey said. "Can I hide again, Momma?"

"Yup", Rogue said as she swatted him lightly on the behind. "Go on now, and then Momma and papa will come and find you."

"Really?" Trey asked then turned to Remy. "Papa will you play with us?"

"Sure", Remy said as he got into the sprit of things. "If you go hide."

Trey bolted, for the hall then shouted. "Hey, Papa left the door open that means the mansion's fair game." He took off out the door as Rogue winced and started to rise.

"We'll never catch him now," She said with a laugh and a shake of her head.

"Sure we will", Remy said as he grabbed her hand and they headed for the door. "Where's your sprit, _chere_?"

"Cajun, do you know how _big,_ this mansion is?" Rogue said as she pulled the door closed partially behind them. "That's the reason the door was closed in the first place, it's easy to find him in our rooms but out here, he could hide for hours."

"Den we'll search him out," Remy said, "He can't hide long with me training him; Remy knows all da hiding spots in dis mansion."

"Ah'll bet." Rogue said as they started down the hall. Suddenly her face brightened "Ah'll bet he'll go to the stables, plenty of animals."

"Let's go ", Remy said taking her hand. " And see if we can find us a boy."

The stable proved empty, as did the kitchen and the green house, although Ororo's prize azalea's looked like a hurricane had blown through them, stating that Trey had been there at some point.

As they wandered through the plants, Remy draped an arm around her, vaguely remembering how he'd wanted to talk to her about something, but it didn't seem as important as before. He smiled at her. "You two place dis game often?" he asked.

"Not on this scale," She said as she looked around. "But yeah, its one of our ways to have fun." She cast one finale look around. "Ah don't think he's in here Sugah."

"No", he agreed as they moved on to the games room.

When the games room proved empty, they searched the gym and the computer labs, finding them all empty and Rogue was beginning to worry a bit. "What if we can't find him?" she asked as she pulled open a storage closet.

"Den we get da team to help, hell Jean could tell you exactly where he was without blinking an eye." He smiled at her and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry chere, he can't hide forever, he's gotta eat sometime."

As they passed Xavier's office, Rogue cocked her head at Remy, then looked back at the door. "Ya don't think,-", she said as she looked at the heavy oak door.

"Remy don't know", he said "It can't hurt to check though." He knocked on the door, and waited to enter until after he'd heard Xavier's say so, then opened the door.

Charles Xavier was seated behind his desk, entertaining a group of politicians who'd wanted a tour of the school. Inwardly both, Rogue and Remy winced as they came in, and everyone turned to look at them. "Sorry to interrupt" Rogue said "But you haven't Tremont lurking around have ya, Professor?"

"No", Xavier said smiling warmly as he indicated to the small space under his desk, briefly with his head, making sure they got the message. "I'm quite afraid I haven't seen him."

Rogue and Remy smiled and nodded briefly to the politician's as they slipped out the door, and waited beside it. A moment later, Trey slipped out the door with a giggle and Remy caught him, whirling him up in his arms as Trey gasped in shock then started to laugh. "You found me!"

"Sure did", Remy said as he settled Trey on his shoulders.

"Can I hide again?"

"It's time for lunch sweetie", Rouge said as they started back for the apartment and the kitchenette. "Maybe if you're real nice, Papa will make you a grilled cheese and ham."

Remy groaned, remembering what was now known as the Grand Sandwich Sit off. "As long lunch doesn't wind up an all afternoon affair."

"It won't Ah promise", Rogue said as they re-entered the apartment. "Cross my heart."

It was after lunch, which Trey mercifully ate, (thanks in part to the ketchup) that Remy finally found the time to talk to Rouge like he'd wanted too. She'd put Trey down for his nap and settled him in, while Remy cleaned up the lunch dishes, and waited for her to be done.

He settled on the couch when he was done, just as she entered the living room and tossed herself down beside him. "He's out", she said as she plowed her fingers through her hair and leaned back against the couch, looking tired and haggard.

"You feeling alright?" he asked concerned.

"Fine", she said mildly, then caught his look." Really, just a little tired is all."

She smiled at him and shook her head. "You've got your, Ah wanna talk look on, Cajun."

"My what?"

"Your Ah want to talk look," she said "It's almost identical to your Ah wanna have sex look." she mused for a moment then cast him a side glance. "In fact, Ah get them confused sometimes."

"Dat explains a lot", he said with a sage nod. "Your right on this one though, Remy did want to talk."

She sighed and laced her gloved fingers with his absently. "Ah figured you did, bout time we got things sorted out." She grinned devilishly and he wondered what was running through her mind. "It's ahright because Ah got a couple of surprises for you, Ah wanted to give ya anyways."

"Really," He said as he gave her a heated glance. "You know da boy is asleep if you want to…"

"Remy", she said with a laugh as she curled up close to him. "Keep yourself controlled, don't make me get the stun gun."

"Dat's not a nice thing to call Jubilee _chere_," he said as she swatted him playfully and leaned against him against and he wrapped his arms around her.

"You wanted to talk so talk." she said looking up at him, and he could see she was worried about what he was going to say.

"Remy wanted you to know, he talked to Jean before you got sick", he said as he stroked her hair. "And she told him, what you were like when you were carrying Trey, how you got sick and such."

"So you know Ah was a spaz", she said, "What's your point?"

He sighed, praying this would go the way he wanted it to. "You weren't a spaz, you were heartsick." he reached out and tipped her face towards him as she looked away. "And unwilling to admit it."

She nodded silently agreeing with him; able to see it now when she couldn't then.

"Remy wanted you to know, he understands now, why ya be so reluctant to put your full trust in him again." he said softly. "He understands why you be so cautious about everything between us and da boy." He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head. "And it's alright chere, because he can wait, until ya do trust him fully again."

He settled back and looked at Rogue, watching and watching her to see what her reaction was to what he'd said was. He expected her to talk, to say something, anything.

Instead she got up and walked out of the room.

Remy sat bolt upright in shock, feeing hurt vibrate through him as he registered the fact that she'd rebuffed him.

She was back right away though, carrying a yellow manila envelope in her hand and he felt as relived as he ever had as he realized she'd just got to get something from their bedroom. She settled back down beside him and looked up at him with a smile as he got a questioning look on his face. "You've said what you wanted to say." she said " Now let me say what Ah need to say, Remy."

"Ah love you." she said as she pulled the envelope open with shaking hands. "More then ah can say, and you know it.", she sighed and shook her head slowly as she tried to form words. "Ah can't say hurt and mistrusting forever, especially since Ah know you'd never hurt us again intentionally."

"Dat's right", he said honestly." So?"

"So", she said "When Ah was sick, Ah got to thinking, what if something happened to me?" She looked away and then looked back, "What if, Ah died, what would happen to Trey."

"_Chere_, its only natural to think like dat.", Remy said as he slipped an arm around her shoulders. "When your as sick as you were."

"The original plan", she went on as if not hearing him. "Was that he'd go and live with Jean and Scott. But-", she stopped and then went on. "That was before, you came back. Ah realized when Ah was sick that he should be with you if anything happened to me..", she pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope and held it out to him. " More of, Ah realized, Ah _wanted_ him to be with you if anything happened to me."

Remy looked at the paper in his hands and then back up to her. For a moment he didn't know what to say and the emotions he was feeling wouldn't have let him anyways; then he cleared his throat and tried anyways. " Chere, dis gives me legal rights to him", he said in wonder.

They had discussed what could be done legally to give him parental rights before but hadn't come to a discussed in anything firm, not really knowing what their options were.

" Full parental and custodial rights.", she said warily " It also make you his sole legal guardian if something happens to me." She smiled. " Ah had my lawyer draw it up this morning, we've got a court date next week to make it official but it gives you all the rights you should have had when he was born."

Rogue reached out and trailed a gloved hand down his jaw as he looked at her with tears in his eyes. " You wanted my trust Remy,", she said softly. " Well, this is it." She smiled at him as silence stretched between them for a moment until she finally had had enough. " Saying something would you, please, anything?"

Instead he reached out and pulled her in his arms, burying his face in her shoulder as he held her tightly and she held him. This time the silence was welcome as it enveloped them until everything was gone but them and all that matter was within grasp. Rogue wasn't sure how long they stayed like that but it could have been forever for all she cared, she'd never felt so happy in her life, like a weight had lifted off hr chest and she hadn't even told him everything yet.

He clued in to that a moment later, pulling back to look at her in curiosity as he did. " What was da other surprise you wanted to tell me about?"

Rogue smiled at him and rose beside the couch, " Oh that", she said as nonchalantly as possible . " Well, if you give me your hand, Ah can show you Sugah."

He nodded and slipped his hand in her hers, confident she'd led him somewhere and show him what this other surprise was. Instead he was shocked when she slipped his hand low on her abdomen and placed her hand over it, raising her eyebrow as she did so, to make sure he got her meaning.

Remy's jaw dropped and he tried to speak but all he could get out was ." Ya, mean, your…", before he let out a whoop and jumping up enfolded her in his arms again, lifting her off of her feet and swinging her around as he did so.

" Oh Sugah,", she wailed as he did so. " Don't do that, Ah'm queasy enough as it is."

He laughed and set her down again as he tried to take everything in. " When?", he started " Where, _how_?"

Rogue smiled. " New Orleans must be a good town for us, baby, because that's about as far along as Ah am. Almost a month and a half exactly." She grinned at him as he got a proud look on his face. " Jean told me yesterday, Ah've been trying ta think of a way to tell ya ever since. You were right when you thought Ah might be pregnant. Jean didn't notice it on the fist set of blood test she ran but she noticed it on my follow ones"

" But the Pneumonia", he said, as he thought back . " How on dis Earth, did you manage not to miscarry?"

" Jean and Ah don't know", Rogue said as they sat back down" Ah asked her the same thing, maybe the baby's as stubborn as you are or at least, that's how Ah interpret things. ", She laughed as the look on his face. " It don't really matter now because according to Jean, both the little one and Ah are in good health anyways, we're just gonna have to be real careful for awhile to make sure we stay that way though."

" Damned straight", he said with a laugh as he puller her close and grabbing a nearby scarf, kissed her with everything he had. " God, I love you", he said brokenly. " _So_ much."

" And Ah love you", She said as she glanced at the clock. " Ya know,", she said as she feigned a yawn. " Trey's gonna be down for a few hours at least, Ah think ah could use a nap.", She raised her eyebrows at him. " Don't you?"

Remy nodded, catching her clear meaning as they both rose from the couch and headed for their room. " Ah think so, but is it safe for you and da little one."

She grabbed his hand and began you lead him off, tossing him a heated sultry glance as she did so. " Cajun", she said as they went along. "Did Ah ever tell, you how horney Ah was during my last pregnancy?"

" _Merde_, no but Remy's _sure as hell_ willing to listen if ya want to tell him now!"

Later, heading to dinner with Trey perched on his shoulders, and one arm wrapped around Rogue's waist, as they walked, They encountered Jean escorting a new prospective team mate around the mansion. " Hey guys", She called " Let me introduce you to someone." She motioned to the petite, pale blond beside her. " This is Amara Aquilla, she's new." She turned to Amara with a smile, " This is Remy and Rogue, two of our team mates." She grinned. " And their little boy Trey."

" Nice to meet you", Amara said in a voice tinged with a South American accent.

" Like wise", Rogue said with a smile as Remy nodded. " Are you two heading to dinner?"

" After I show Amara her room", Jean said ' If Scott asks, tell him I'll be there in a bit."

Rogue nodded as they went on their way. " Nice to meet you.", Remy called as they moved on as well and began to head for the dining room.

As jean lead her away, Rogue and Remy heard Amara asked in a questioning voice, tinged with hope. ' They are families here?"

Rogue and Remy both smiled, knowing what Jean's answer would be, and just kept going. They were a family, and they knew to other mutants that presented a slim sliver of hope that someday they could have one too. As they neared the dining room, Rogue leaned her head against Remy's shoulder and smiled, knowing she was truly happy and without worry for the first time in ages.

She pulled open the dining room door and they all went inside, chatting about the new baby and the better future that was hopefully soon on it's way.

To be continued…


	7. Epilogue

                                                          Epilogue 

_Eight Months Later…_

Remy woke with a start, sensing something wasn't quite right and rolled over to find himself alone in bed. He glanced at the clock with a yawn, groaning as he saw the numbers blink, 4: 45 AM and sat up, rapidly registering the fact that he was in fact, alone, when he shouldn't have been at that hour. He glanced towards the bathroom, figuring Rogue might have had to make _yet _another trip before the night was out, and was surprised to see it was dark and still.

Quickly he rose, grabbing his robe as he did so and slipping it on, praying that Rogue hadn't had another of the nightmares that had been assaulting her lately. They normally revolved around the baby's health (which for the majority of the pregnancy had been normal) and while Jean assured Remy they were normal, it was still a nightly experience he found completely unsettling and it was even worse for Rogue.

He plowed his fingers through his hair as he started for the living room, passing by a bridal magazine, that reminded him of the fact that he and Rogue were not only in the midst of planning for the baby but were also, in fact, planning their small late summer '_wedding'._ The term wedding was being used lightly, since Remy was in fact, still legally married and could do nothing about it, without starting a fiasco nether wanted to deal with.

It had been Storm's idea to use a semi-pagan ceremony of her people's that would declare them as husband and wife to their friends and colleagues, (which everyone pretty much considered them anyways,) without the legalities. At first Rogue and he had debated having the ceremony at all, both being happy they way that they were, but then decided what hell, and so the plans were proceeding nicely to have the ceremony in August, a year to the day he'd showed up at her hotel in New Orleans.

Both Remy and Rogue had decided they wanted to wait until after the baby was born for the ceremony, so he or she could be a part of it, instead of just a carry on participant.

Remy entered the living not surprised, to find Rogue pacing the length of it, dressed in her bathrobe, one hand resting on the small of her back while the other caressed the shelf of her stomach. She had a determined look on her face that Remy knew meant she was feeling ether some discomfort, or she wanted to kill someone, possibly both where he was concerned.

He leaned against the doorframe to the living room and watched her for a moment as she slowly paced along, feeling nerves shoot through him as he realized what was happening and what was going to happen if his hunch was right.

 Rogue reached one end of the room, and slowly turned to start her circuit again, finally noticing him and giving him a nervous smile. "Hey", she said breathlessly as she started towards him.

"Hey, _chere_", he said as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, nonchalantly. He waited until she'd reached him and then tipped her chin towards him, catching the burgeoning pain in her eyes as a pain began to build. "Da baby's coming, _non_?"

"Ah don't know yet", she said with another nervous smile. "Ah've only had a few mild pains, Ah didn't want to say anything until Ah was sure, it was labor and not false."

"Ya should have woke me, _little one_", he said as she rested her head against his chest for support. "Remy'd have gotten up with you anyways."

"You need your sleep as much as Ah do", she said quietly as she yawned. She tried to grin but all she could make it too was a pained smile. "Especially if you are, gonna help with the night feedings, right?"

"Right", he said, feeling her body tighten against his as he spoke. For the first time in nine months, it _really_ occurred to him that they were going to have another child, another little one to add to their newly formed family group, and he felt his heart quicken and brighten at the prospect. "So how long ya gonna wait before we go get Red, huh?"

"Let's wait another hour", Rogue said, as her voice caught on a strong contraction and she rested her head against him for support. "Remy, Ah really need to sit down." Her last words spoken were almost a wail as a strong contraction gripped her and she in turn grabbed Remy with all the strength she dared.

With a light curse, Remy directed them to the couch and down on to it, settling a large pillow behind her back as he did so.  "Remy knew he never should have let Cykes and Red convince us to go clubbing tonight." he said as he watched her get through the mild contraction. "We should have stayed home, what with your due date so close and all. It was probably da damn noise and action in da club dat brought dis on."

"Ah_ wanted_ to go clubbing ", Rogue said through gritted teeth. " Hell, knows when we'll get to go again." She leaned back against the pillow and tried to catch her breath. "It was a good idea for us to get out and enjoy ourselves for a bit." she smiled at him, remembering the fun that'd had that night, flirting and dancing all the slow dances, it was the best time Rogue had ever had in a club when she couldn't drink, even if she was as round as an apple and the size of a small watermelon.

 It had taken a good amount of convincing on her part to get him to  agree with the idea of going out with the team, and she wasn't about to tell him she'd been having mild contractions almost the entire time they'd been out. God knows if she ever got pregnant again, he'd never let her out of the mansion.

Whether it was the fact that he'd missed her pregnancy with Trey, or just his nature, Remy'd had been extra protective during her pregnancy, not liking to let her out of his sights for a moment if it could be helped. This conflicted with Rogue's independent nature, and had resulted in some banger arguments between them. Arguments Rogue usually won because as she stated they learned to compromise or as Remy stated because the couch in the living room was lumpy of hell, and he couldn't stand sleeping on it for the extended periods of time he was.

 "Besides, it's not like Ah'm too early or anything, we only had three days to go before my due date anyways." She laughed as she glanced towards Trey's room. "Aren't ya glad Amara said she'd watch Trey tonight?" Since Jubilee had come clubbing with them, with Logan of course, Amara had offered to keep the kids, Scott and Jeans as well, for the night and while she'd been reluctant as first, Rogue was now gladder that she had then ever.

Remy brushed the hair out of her eyes, and thought back over the last nine months, there were times when he had been sure he wouldn't survive another day. Mood swings, cravings, and worst of all, morning sickness. He'd never heard anyone as sick as his _belle chere_ as she'd been in the beginning, and he'd spent a good portion of his teen life around people who thought drinking and throwing up was a lifestyle choice.  It got to the point where Remy had spent most of his mornings sitting outside the bathroom with a magazine, praying for noon, for her sake because that was when it seemed to stop.

He smiled as he thought of the time she'd sent him out for ice cream at two in the morning, and he'd forgotten his keys. He'd wound up having to pound on the door like a bad imitation of Fred Flintstone, and holler her name until she'd woken up and let him in, and she'd been none to happy about it.

Then there had been Trey's birthday on Halloween, and the costume party they'd thrown him. He'd got as Batman while Remy had dressed up as a vampire and Rogue had gone as a bar wench. For once Remy was glad he wasn't a teacher because he couldn't have handled a crowed of little ones like Rogue and Jean had been able too.

Everything during the pregnancy had been new to Remy, while it was almost old hat to Rogue who had obviously gone through everything with Trey. Still he knew that he being there this time had made every thing more special, and he was thrilled with every change that occurred in her body, every kick and flip that signaled another child of his was growing in her and doing well. He loved to rest his hand on her stomach and feel the baby kicking, or to watch her stomach moving as she slept and yet it saddened him a bit to think he'd missed out on that with Trey.

He'd been surprised at how quickly she'd grown round during this pregnancy, but knew it was because unlike her last one, she'd thrived during this pregnancy and her health had never been better, according to her regular check-ups with Jean. He'd made sure she didn't stress herself out, didn't take on too heavy a class load when classes had started and done much of the cooking so she'd have time to rest during the day instead of rushing around like she normally did.

Trey for his part was still skeptically there was a child in his mother at all, and when they'd asked him whether he wanted a brother of sister, had replied he'd rather have a Cocker Spaniel. He had started pre-school with the rest of Jubilee's daycare kids and was on fully days, growing like a swamp reed and often causing more trouble then he was willing to fess up to. Rogue had commented several times that he was exactly like his father, and that thought alone was enough to give Remy chills as he remembered what he'd been like as a  child.

"What are you thinking?" Rogue asked him as they lay together on the couch, resting for the moment before another pain hit.

"Nothing.", Remy said as he kissed her temple. "Just about how much I love you and our children _chere_."

"Children", she said with a smile, still not quite used to the fact she was going to have two children instead of one child. It all didn't seem quite real yet, like a wonderful dream that she was going to wake up from and yet she knew it was real, and that made her happier then she'd ever been in her life.  She linked her hand with his, and smiled up with him. "Ah love you too."

The hour crawled by, the slowest of Remy's life, as he rubbed her back, and held her hand and the pains showed no signs of stopping, so reluctantly( because he didn't want to leave her for an instant), Remy agreed to go and get Jean like they'd planned. "Remy'll be right back", he said as she fought through a strong contraction.

"Hurry", she said through gritted teeth as she watched him go.

Remy quickly, tossed open the apartment door, wincing at the bang it created, and started for Jean and Scott's room, now down the hall farther since they'd moved Livvy to her own room when she turned a year old. As he practically flew down the hall, the others began to poke their heads out their doors to see what was happening. "What's going on?" Jubilee said sleepily from Logan's doorway, where she was standing, clad only in one of Logan's t-shirts.

"Nothing much", Remy said as he continued down the hallway without missing a beat. "Jus havin a baby is all." He wasn't surprise to see Jean making her way up the hall with her medical bag on her robe clad arm, glad for once she was a telepath and didn't need to see things to know what was happening. Remy immediately changed directions and began to follow her as she headed for his room, and Rogue.

"How far apart are the pains", she asked with a friendly smile as she saw how nervous the normally calm Cajun was.

"Seven minutes", he said "She didn't want me to come and get you until we were absolutely sure it was real, and not false."

"Seven minutes isn't false", she confirmed as they entered the apartment and headed for the living room. 'In fact, it's more like, get ready to catch."

Rogue was still in the living room, having settled herself comfortably in Remy's Lazy Boy, in a position that seemed to take the pressure off of her back and give her a measure of relief. Remy move quickly to her side as she struggled to sit up and helped her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders for support.

Jean smiled as she squatted down next to her, and quickly took her pulse. "So seven minutes huh?" she said as she listened to both the baby and then Rogue's heartbeats.

"Six, now", Rogue said, clenching her teeth so hard, it was hard to understand her. 

"Right, off to Med Lab we go then."  Jean said, watching her patient closely as Remy helped her to her feet, and let her use him as a support to lean against. "I'll go ahead and get things ready for you."

Rogue nodded, too focused on what was happening inside her own body to hear what her friend and Doctor was saying. As Jean hurried off, and they slowly began to follow her at a pace Rogue could handle, Remy turned to her and gave her one of his best Cajun grins. "Ready to have a baby _chere_."

She gave him a dirty look that would have put Logan to shame. "Do Ah look like Ah have a damned choice, Cajun?" She said and he was actually relived to find that his spunky souled girl was still alive and well, Rogue had been so mellow through out the pregnancy he'd feared she was gone forever.

They made their way out the door, and down the hall as the rest of their teammates watched and offered both encouragements and congratulations as they returned to their rooms and beds. Soon, much to Remy's relief they had made it to the lab and Rogue was settled in a hospital gown in bed while Hank and Jean bustled around and got everything ready for the baby's arrival.

"How we doing?" he asked her as he tucked the blankets in around her and settled down in a chair beside the bed.

"Better", she said warily. "Jean gave me some painkillers," She grinned rather goofily at him and he knew the dose had packed a wallop. "Ah'm numb from the waist down."

" Dat always helps", he said with a nod as he watched the light from the lamp above her glint off of the necklace he'd given her at Christmas time, and to his knowledge she'd never taken off since. It was a slim silver chain with a rounded piece of his and her birthstones in the middle and a smaller piece of Trey's birthstone and the new baby's on ether side of it and as soon as he'd seen it he'd known she'd love it and he'd been right.

Despite his objections Rogue had wanted to know whether their baby was a boy or a girl until it was born, so it was still a mystery as to whether they were having a daughter or another son. It didn't matter, they'd loved the new baby what ever it was but in Remy's opinion it would have been nice to know, for at least planning the colors in the nursery.

Soon then he'd expected, and Rogue too he could tell, the contractions were only a moment apart, and both Jean and Hank were bustling around the business end of the bed as they checked and re-checked Rogue's blood pressure and the baby's heart beat.

Remy slipped an arm around Rogue's tired shoulders and helped support her as she began to push soon after that. He couldn't believe, given the fact her last labor had been so long, that she'd been in labor for less then five hours and yet it was obvious it wouldn't be much longer and the baby would be with them.

"Come on Rogue", Jean said encouragingly. "Just a couple more pushes and it'll all be over." She patted her leg through the hospital drape and smiled reassuringly "You'll be able to rest soon."

"Your doin real good, _chere_", Remy whispered in French, as he leaned his head against hers briefly. He wound his fingers through her gloved ones, wincing as she quickly crushed his poker playing hand, and squeezed reassuringly back as she mustered up the last of her strength for another good push. "Ya jus gotta give a little more."

'Ah don't know if Ah can", she gasped, biting her lip to keep from crying out as another pain torn through her. "Ah'm so tired, Cajun. Ah just wanna sleep."

"Remy knows _P'tite_", he said "But ya gotta try, okay. Remy's right here dis time to help you." And he was right there a moment later as she gave one final push, slumping back against his arm in exhaustion as a tiny wail filled the room.

" It's a girl.", Jean cried excitedly as she began to towel her off and then a moment later laid her on Rogue's stomach so Remy could cut the cord. She then wrapped her in a blanket and laid her in Rogue's arms as all of them, Remy included, felt tears come on.

"Hello little one." Rogue said softly as she looked down at her daughter for the first time and then up at Remy. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Remy was too choked up to speak, so instead he reached out and rest a hand lightly on his daughters tiny head as he kissed Rogue's hair.

"Does she have a name?" Hank as from Jean's side.

"Carlee." Remy said, speaking for the first time as the name they'd picked out came back to him. "Carlee Jade Lebeau."

"Some one should go get Trey", Rogue said. "Ah promised him, he'd get to see her right after she was born."

"Let's get you cleaned up first," Jean suggested as she handed the baby to a surprised Remy. 'And then I'll get Scott to go and get him."

Remy stared down at his daughter, and into a pair of the greenest eyes, surrounded by black, he'd ever seen, eyes exactly like his and Trey's and he'd never felt prouder, of her, of Rogue, and he'd never felt as happy as he did at that moment. "Hey li'l one", he said gruffly, not sure how exactly one talks to a baby of less then an hour old. He settled her in the crook of her arm as she yawned, and he smiled as across the room Rogue did the same thing. "Remy thinks she'd gonna have red hair like you", he said as he moved back to her side and settled down beside her again.

"Umm", Rogue said "And probably your temper."

"We can hope." he said with a laugh as he felt tears chocked him again. "Ah love you _chere_." he said softly as he reached out and kissed one of her hands. He grinned lopsidedly at her. "She's beautiful, just like her mama." He looked down and then back up at her. "Thank you Rogue," he said "For her, For Trey, for loving someone as rough as me."

She grinned and leaned against him as he laid the baby in her arms. "You've got nothing ta thank me for Cajun", she said. "We've both worked hard to get where we are."

"So?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"So what?' she said, smiling down at Carlee.

" Was it worth it, or should Remy say, is it worth it?" He asked seriously.

"Every minute", she said "Ah wouldn't have traded any moment of the last four years for the world."

"Me nether", he said as Scott brought Trey.

"Hey son", he said as he settled the boy on his lap. Scott smiled at Rogue and the baby in her arms, mouthed the word congratulations and slipped back out of the room again, leaving them alone as a family for the moment. "Look, you've got a little sister."

Trey looked wholly unimpressed. "I thought were getting a dog", he said with a frown and both his parents laughed.

"No.", Rogue said "But this is better, trust me."

"If you say so.", Trey said, clearly not believing her one bit.

Rogue caught Remy's eye and they laughed again as she felt fatigue begin to over take her. She yawned and after a moment struggled to keep her eyes open.

Remy noticed and setting Trey down took Carlee and settled her, a little awkwardly, in the bassinette beside Rogue's bed. Jean was keeping her in the lab overnight and then she and the baby could go home tomorrow.  They still had to test and see if she was immune to Rouge's mutation but he knew that would have to wait for a few weeks until both Rogue and the baby were stronger. He had a feeling though, and he'd later find he was correct, that she was also immune and Rogue could touch her like she could Trey. "Sleep now, _Mon Coeur_", he said kissing her on the temple through her hair. "You've had along day."

He picked Trey up, and turning slipped from the room to go and get some sleep himself and Rogue watched him go with a smile as she began to drift off, feeling herself give in to exhaustion and slip away. For a moment she held on, looking at the baby in the bassinette beside her, thinking of how much her life had changed in the last year and how now she had the family she'd always wanted.

And then she let herself go, with a smile.

 Knowing what exactly she had to wake up to the next morning and for every morning after that, and knowing she wouldn't miss it for the world.

The End.

(Feed back, feed back, feed back, please!) __


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